Remedial works in Blackpool town centre to disrupt traders on £21m tramway extension

The news was met with dismay after a previous months-long closure had a major impact on businesses in the road.

The council did not say what the snags are or when the closure will happen – though it said “different sections” would be closed “over a single week”.

Repair work has already started in a lay-by outside the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, near to Talbot Square, where the “concrete surface did not meet our specification” and will be re-laid by contractors, the council said.

A spokeswoman said the issues relate to technical standards and will be put right at the expense of the council’s contractor rather than the public purse.

And, with no tram depot to link the tracks to yet, there should be no ultimate delay.

The council has also announced another, scheduled, closure to Talbot Road from May 12.

The road will be closed for approximately five days to allow for “quality and safety checks” to take place.

Coun Tony Williams, the leader of the Conservative opposition hoping to win control over the town hall this morning, said traders had “suffered enough” with “business losses and job losses”.

The impact

Big Woody’s skate shop, which was opposite Sacred Heart Church in Talbot Road, was forced to move last year because of the roadworks.Owner Woody Clayton said he held on in the hopes the work would be finished “by the end of September” but said: “This never happened and the situation went from bad to worse.”The shop is now on Talbot Road miles away in Layton.