THE owner of an iconic and long-standing Tenbury town-centre shop is calling time on her business.

Chris Hurst has owned and run Casa Portugesa in Teme Street for 30 years.

But she says that the current road disruption in the town centre is the final straw and it is time to call it a day.

“I have had enough and the terrible problems since Christmas are the final straw,” said Chris Hurst.

“It is a very hard decision but I am just not willing to carry on the way things are in the town.

“I am extremely sad because I love Tenbury and the other shops but it is just not sensible to carry on as things are.”

She said that the traffic disruption since Christmas has given her business a big hit that is not sustainable.

“One day in February we took just £17 and I am about £1,200 down in both January and February and that is £2,400 which is a lot of money for a small business in a small town.”

On the day that Chris Hurst spoke to the Advertiser early in the afternoon her business had taken just £5 so far that day.

“It is ridiculous and does not even pay the wages of my staff,” added Chris Hurst.

“It is usual for trade to drop off in January and February but nothing like this.”

She says that the main issue is problems with parking.

“People simply cannot park and so either don’t stop in Tenbury or know how bad the situation is so decide to give the town a miss,” Chris Hurst added.

“On one day recently there were six construction lorries taking up space in the car park. There is no street parking nearby that people can use.

“A lot of my customers are passing by and decide to come in and buy on impulse but these people are simply not in town because of the chaos.

“I cannot park outside the shop to deliver stock and people cannot stop even for a few minutes to pick up items that they have purchased. There have been occasions when it has simply not be worthwhile opening.”

For Chris Hurst the problems associated with the building of the Tesco store is just the latest in a string of problems.

“In 2007 we had the floods that were very bad for business,” she said.

“Then we had the Teme Bridge closed for repair for several months and that stopped traffic coming into the town.

“Most recently there have been the improvements to the town centre that have gone on forever and now we have the situation with the Tesco store.

“This business with Tesco has gone on for years. After a long delay the building started last year and the store was due to open at the end of February and now this has been put back to April.

“All of these things have gone on for so long and the current chaos in the final straw.”

Chris Hurst says that she will not be closing immediately but will be looking for a tenant to move in over the coming year.