BUSINESSES have been offered a compensation package by the council in response to a ‘double whammy’ of roadworks.

Temporary traffic lights were installed on the A4104 on Wednesday as part of a road raising project, which has coincided with Cadent’s gas pipe replacement works in Old Street, Upton.

Traders in the town insist that Upton is still open for business, although parking spaces along Old Street will be closed from Monday, February 12.

Malvern Hills District Council has now stepped in to offer Upton Business Association (UBA) £10,000 worth of funding to support local companies.

Mike Ostick, vice chairman of the UBA, said: “It’s a double whammy, a maelstrom of roadworks. It will have a disrupting effect on businesses in the town.

“We said to them [the council] this could wipe out some of our businesses.

“Malvern Hills District Council has come up with a package of measures which are to do with promoting business in Upton.”

Mr Ostick added that the £10,000 will go towards improving the association’s website and social media.

It will also help to fund competitions and banners to remind locals that Upton has not closed.

Mr Ostick said Cadent has also changed its compensation scheme to cater to the small businesses in the town.

He added that Worcestershire County Council will remove the traffic lights on the A4104 for the festival season.

Some 530 metres of the road will be raised, between Upton Marina and Holly Green, as part of the flood alleviation project.

A spokesman for Cadent said it will suspend parking between 14 and 52 Old Street for around two weeks and use the bays as an extra lane for traffic.

Simon Smith, economic development manager for the district council, said he appreciates that traders can struggle during roadworks.

Bus services have also been affected by the roadworks.

To read more about the new temporary bus timetables go on https://www.firstgroup.com/worcestershire/news-and-service-updates/current-issues/services-332333363365373-upton-town-centre