A Hampshire estate agent has slammed a decision to turn a busy street into a one-way system as gas works take place.

Cheryl Lodwidge, administrator at Manns and Manns in Lowford, has spoken out after Portsmouth Road was partially closed for gas pipe works by SGN.

The road has been made one-way for safety reasons as work takes place to replace metal gas pipes to ensure the future of the road’s gas supply.

The work is expected to last until the end of the month but now the estate agent worker has said she is “just waiting for someone to have a head-on collision”.

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Ms Lodwidge said: “It is one way so you can enter Lowford from Hamble Lane.

“But people are turning down and some of them are driving the full length. Others are doing U-turns in the middle.

“They shouldn’t really be doing that, it is quite dangerous. I am just waiting for someone to have a head on collision.”

Businesses have also seen a decrease in footfall as drivers are no longer able to easily access the shops and other businesses along the road.

But firms say they were only given a week’s notice about the work, having received at least two weeks' notice on past occasions.

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Ms Lodwidge added: “I can see the sense to doing it in the school holidays but we weren’t given a great deal of notice about it.

“The footfall outside has dropped off massively. The local retailers are all down on take ins. It is almost like going back to the Covid times.

“It is having a huge impact on retail. We generally get quite a few people looking at the properties in the window.

“We don’t really get anybody passing at the moment. We haven’t had many people walk through the door at all.

“We’re completely relying on the phone calls and online.

“Maybe if they had more people working it might not take them quite so long. Does it really need to take a whole month?”

SGN has since apologised for the work and said compensation is available.

A spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for the disruption being caused and we appreciate this is a busy time for shop owners.

"Any small businesses who have been affected by our works can apply for compensation by filling out the form on our website."