City traders have spoken of the impact that roadworks and regeneration work have had on their businesses in July.
Cumberland Council is currently undertaking works in the city centre and around the outskirts of Carlisle that are aimed at regenerating the city as well as improving the roads.
However, businesses in the city have found that this July wasn't as busy as they would have expected it to be.
READ MORE: Carlisle business owners speak out about Devonshire St works
John Watt & Son has experienced a 30 per cent downturn in footfall to its café on Bank Street.
Their suppliers are also finding it difficult to access the business's roasting warehouse on Blackfriars Street.
A spokesperson for John Watt & Son said: "It's just a case of the perfect storm in the wrong sense, where everything's happening at once and it is causing all these delays.
"It is stuff that needed to be done and it did need all the improvement, but potentially with better planning it could have been done better."
READ MORE: Carlisle's MP welcomes new Armed Forces Careers centre
Similarly, outside of the city centre in Denton Holme, BrickStation manager Luke Crocker has noted that July has been one of their "worst months for a long time."
As the summer holidays have just recently started in England, Mr Crocker would have expected numbers to "significantly rise" but this has not been the case.
People have their own reasons for deciding whether to visit or not, but he thinks that the road works may be having an impact on their decision making.
Mr Crocker said: "The road works must play a part in that because it's going to scare off people from making efforts to come around the city or to park or to deal with issues.
"In and around where we are in Denton Holme, we've had a whole series of different road works on the three leading roads into where we are on Nelson street.
"But in a more broad sense, you've obviously got the roadworks that are happening across the city and it depends on where customers are as to how they get to you."
Neither business blames Cumberland Council, recognising that the council is in a difficult position, but with better planning the works could have had less of an impact and avoided the city centre shutting down during rush hour.
Improvement works have just concluded on Devonshire Street with work due to start on the Market Square and Greenmarket this month with construction on the Carlisle Station Gateway and Carlisle Southern Gateway already underway.
Elsewhere in the city, there are resurfacing works taking place on Warwick Road and maintenance works on Brampton Road. The south of the city towards Durdar is also experiencing roadworks due to the Carlisle Southern Link Road.
Cumberland Council was approached for comment.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel