'We might have to close while the work is going on' - Willenhall business owners fear fall in customer numbers and disruption caused by train station works

The businesses on Bilston Street had reported a severe drop in customers on Monday compared to a normal day since the start of the major works, which has seen a southbound closure of Bilston Street and Rose Hill Gardens in Willenhall starts with temporary lights in place.

Bilston Street, the B4484, is already closed to southbound traffic for development work on the town's new railway station, which is due to be in operation from March 2026, and is due to be closed until August 11 between the New Road mini island to its junction with Rosehill.

The first day of the works saw heavier than usual traffic in the areas, with a long line visible from Bilston Street down to Rose Hill Gardens and building traffic at the mini-roundabout during the school run at around 3.30pm.

For Guriqbal Singh, owner of Rose Hill Wines and Mediterranean Cafe, Pizza and Fish and Chips, the road closure and disruption had had a hugely detrimental effect on his business and said he might have to take drastic action if things stayed that way.

He said: "Since this morning, we've probably lost about 60 per cent of our business as people have just been unable to stop and unable to get into the shop when, usually, they get on and off the bus and come in or stop on the side of the road.

"I don't feel like we got any warning from Walsall Council about this and only really got a warning about what was coming when they put the signs up for the road closure, plus what we've read about in the paper.

"This, I think, will impact everyone around here as people are taking longer to drive in, half-an-hour instead of five minutes, while other shops are going to be affected and there's far more traffic than there should be, so it's going to be bad day and night.

"I also don't think that we can survive like this if we have to work like this and I might have to close the shop for the next five months, which will effectively leave me and my staff redundant and will probably cost me about £10,000, so it's going to have a real impact."

Down the road at Khalis Sweet Centre, owner Gobind Singh was also counting the cost of the first day of traffic.

He said: "Due to the road closure, we are facing issues with customers being able to get into the shop and I think we've probably lost about 60 per cent of our usual business.

"We did try to contact the council about this, but they didn't respond to any of my emails, so I am still unclear about what impact this will have on me and my business.

"I do think it's going to be very difficult, particularly with serving customers as they are facing difficulty with getting here and, also, we will be taking longer to get orders out, going from six minutes to more than 30 minutes."

At Jazz Barbers, Sukhjeet Basra said the works were going to cause a lot of disruption in the town and said it had contributed to a drop in customers.

He said: "There's too much traffic around here and with no parking on the streets, people aren't likely to come out as much as they need to, plus the fact that they can't park on the bridge any more.

"It's just going to cause problems as all the traffic is going down one lane, so everyone is going to have a hard time in the morning and the evening.

"We've seen less people in today as well, so I can only hope that things will improve going forwards."

In addition, there was work going on at nearby Somerford Place up to Keyway Island, and engineers from Severn Trent Water were carrying out repairs following reports of a leak in Birchtree Hollow off Stroud Avenue.

The road reopened in late afternoon and while there was a new leak in Hazelwood Grove later on, that issue was also quickly fixed.

A spokesperson for Severn Trent Water said: "We’re sorry for the disruption caused on Birchtree Hollow, which was the result of a leaking pipe. 

"This issue has been fixed and the road has been reopened. Our teams are dealing with a separate leak on Hazelwood Grove, which has now been fixed. The pathway is due to be reinstated tomorrow."