A Brentwood newsagent claims he is losing more than £1,000 worth of business a week while Kavanaghs Road is closed to traffic because of work on the railway bridge.

Work on the bridge began last month and was scheduled to last four weeks, but owners Railtrack say there was much more damage than originally thought and the road will not reopen until "about a week after Easter."

Now Raj Jethwa and his wife Vanita, who own The Paper Shop in nearby Crescent Road, have taken legal advice in a bid to recover some compensation for their financial losses.

Mr Jethwa said: "I get quite a lot passing trade because my shop is near Holly Trees Junior School. But now parents dropping their kids off and also customers going to Brentwood station have to make a detour of an extra mile via Kings Road."

"We are talking about a two mile round trip for my customers to get to me and I've been losing something in the region of £200 a day for the last six weeks.

"It's driving my business down. I've had to apply to the bank for extra overdraft to see me through this period. I've had lots of customers come to me complaining about it."

He is backed by customer Corinne Polley, of nearby London Road. She said: "It's a nightmare. Railtrack just doesn't seem to be that concerned about the effect it is having on local people.

"I understand that work has to be carried out on the bridge but if it was maintained properly in the first place, maybe it wouldn't have had to go on for so long. It's just an inconvenience for everybody."

A Railtrack spokesman said: "It is embarrassing but if we've got a rail bridge that has been damaged it would be very irresponsible of us not to repair it properly.

"It is a major job. The last thing in the world that we would want is to have a job extended from four to seven or eight weeks.

"We can only apologise. It's not an ideal situation and we are not happy that it is taking this extra time, but the safety of people who drive and walk under the bridge has to take priority. It is not in anybody's interest to cut corners."

Lost business: Vanita and Raj Jethwa claim their newsagents has lost much passing trade since nearby Kavanaghs Road has been closed while the railway bridge is being repaired.

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