'Incredibly difficult' times for Cambridgeshire café owner amid high street project
The multi-million pound scheme in March is due to finish this month
A café owner is telling us it's been 'incredibly difficult' to deal with the effects of a Cambridgeshire town centre project.
Work on redeveloping Broad Street in March, including wider pavements, zebra crossings and a mini roundabout, is due to come to an end this month since they began in June last year.
The project is part of an £8.4 million programme to regenerate the area, which has included the revamp of March Market Place.
Lindsey Butt runs Butties Café on Dartford Road, just around the corner from Broad Street, and opened around three months ago.
No 'real need' for town centre project - business owner
"They've taken all the parking away and made it difficult to walk around town now," she said.
"I know they've (local authorities) got to do these things to create what they want to create, but it has been incredibly difficult for the last few months.
"I don't see there's any real need for it; we had a very pretty town, I can't see the benefit of taking the parking away or a great big pavement when there are no shops to visit."
Construction work in Broad Street has been ongoing before June 2023 due to major underground gas and water main upgrades.
Since then, businesses on Broad Street have closed including shoe shop Clarks and Tesco Express, while a new Turkish restaurant, F&S Majestic, has opened in place of the former NatWest bank.
The improvement scheme has sparked mixed reaction by people in and around March, as well as on social media, since work began.
Rob Skoulding, former mayor of March, is one person who's previously criticised the plans.
Ms Butt hopes access to the town improves if her business is to continue.
"We're a rural town so people rely on their cars, and public transport is not good enough so I'm not sure how it (the project) will go once it's open," she added.
"A lot of our customers are older customers, and we've had a few people saying they've driven past and if they can't park outside, they don't come in because there's nowhere to park that's near enough to access.
"We're trying to get through and it has meant sadly, some staff have had to cut some hours; I haven't laid anybody off, and hopefully once it's done, it picks up again but I don't know if it will."
A spokesperson for Fenland District Council has said the "once in a generation scheme" will help "improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and create a more open, social, and pedestrian-friendly town centre."