Trader urges customers to return to Harborough district shopping centre after end to road closure chaos

Traders at the centre are eagerly anticipating the return of customers.

A businessowner is urging customers to ‘come back’ after long-term road closures affected footfall at a Harborough village shopping centre.

Trudie Ustabas, director of Mediterranean Deli and Farm Shop at Wistow Rural Centre, is spreading the word that all roads are finally open following bridge closures along travel routes to Leicester ^[1].

Some of the closures, part of Network Rail’s work on the electrification of the Midland Main Line, were in place from early last year.

They have finally reopened after the line between Kettering and Wigston was switched on late last month.

The disruption caused financial struggles for businesses at the Rural Centre in Kibworth Road, which is reliant on people travelling down from Leicester.

Among the closures was Station Road ^[2], between Wistow and Great Glen, which was closed in February 2023.

It was reopened October but had to be shut again in December when a van crashed into another bridge on the stretch.

Earlier this year, traders at the centre reported takings were down.

Trudie said: “Network Rail has not cared about our losses over the past 17 months since they arrived in January 2023.“It is stressful running a rural business and having road closures for such a long time. There were diversion signs put up but they took customers round in circles!“It's been a nightmare. We are playing catch up on bills due to the lack of customers.

“We are all patiently waiting for customers to come back to Wistow Rural Centre to have a wonderful rural shopping experience.”

Owner of nearby attraction Wistow Maze Diana Brooks said: “Many of the businesses over at the Wistow Rural Centre were hit very hard indeed, with some 90 per cent down on sales, when the next bridge was also closed due to an accident.

“Network Rail took so much longer to complete their work than first estimated. I must say I felt so sorry for all the businesses at the Rural Centre who work so hard and then they lose so much normal trade by something totally out of their control.

“Hopefully now the Wistow Maze is open, trade will pick up for them.”

References

^{^} Leicester (www.harboroughmail.co.uk)
^{^} Station Road (www.harboroughmail.co.uk)