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Owner of Maglia Rosso cycle shop, café and glamping park in call for improved signage and compensation after Anglian Water road closures hit Hawstead business




A Hawstead business hit by repeated Anglian Water road closures is calling for better signage and financial compensation.

Maglia Rosso cycle shop, café and glamping site, at the former Metcalfe Arms, in Lawshall Road, near Bury St Edmunds, has seen trade dip every time the road is closed.

The current road closure for Anglian Water is scheduled to be in place until April 2 – however Maglia Rosso is still accessible.

Maglia Rosso, HawsteadBarry Denny said continual roadworks outside Maglia Rosso are hitting trade, Barry with Cafe manager Sonia Hood. Picture by Mark Westley
Maglia Rosso, HawsteadBarry Denny said continual roadworks outside Maglia Rosso are hitting trade, Barry with Cafe manager Sonia Hood. Picture by Mark Westley

Barry Denny, owner, said the losses to his business ran into the thousands, as signage indicated road closures from several miles away.

He said: “This has been going on for years. They delight in shutting the road for long periods. Sometimes the road is only partially blocked, but they still put ‘road closed’ signs up – sometimes several miles away.

“No sooner is one closure finished, another is put in place. In all cases road closure signs are out for miles in each direction, often well in advance of the actual closure and not taken down until sometime after the road is reopened.

Maglia Rosso, HawsteadBarry Denny said continual roadworks outside Maglia Rosso are hitting trade, Barry with Cafe manager Sonia Hood. Picture by Mark Westley
Maglia Rosso, HawsteadBarry Denny said continual roadworks outside Maglia Rosso are hitting trade, Barry with Cafe manager Sonia Hood. Picture by Mark Westley

“In this case, the signs start at Nowton Road and then reappear all the way along – there’s eight junctions beforeour property and at every one there is a sign saying ‘road closed ahead’. There are eight alternative routes people could take – it is signed from five-and-a-half miles away with no indication of where the closure is.

“We are a rural business and 99 per cent of our customers use that road for us. It is hard to say how many thousands it has cost us because these closures happen so often.”

Mr Denny is calling for Anglian Water – which he said was behind the majority of the closures – to compensate him financially and provide improved signage saying where closures were located.

An Anglian Water spokesperson apologised for the disruption, caused by a number of different works in the area, including the repair of a collapsed sewer and laying a new water mains.

Barry Denny with cafe manager Sonia Hood.
Barry Denny with cafe manager Sonia Hood.

“We understand how frustrating roadworks can be, so we thank our customers for their patience,” said the spokesperson.

“We have been in contact with the owner of Maglia Rosso and explained conversations about compensation need to be addressed directly to our insurers.”