RESIDENTS of Tilford could breathe a huge sigh of relief this week as Surrey County Council re-opened the East Bridge, almost two weeks before it was scheduled to.

Now fitted with temporary barriers and a 20mph speed limit, the re-opening of the bridge on Wednesday saw an end to almost two weeks of chaos.

Following the January 19 crash which saw a Honda CRV flip over the side of the bridge, the resulting bridge closure and subsequent diversions caused almost a fortnight of misery for business owners and drivers.

One of the biggest sufferers was the Tilford Village Shop who told The Herald that he had lost 60 to 70 per cent of their trade in the days following the crash.

Shop owner Krish Senthivel said that there is no passing trade as the diversion signs sent all traffic and footfall away from the shop.

A “forlorn” Mr Senthivel, who runs the shop with his wife Ravishna said: “There is no passing trade. It picks up a little during the morning school run, but it is then dead all day.

“We get a little bit of business after school, but then after 4pm it is dead. We have had to shut the shop early. People used to stop for their dinners but not any more.

“There is just no access and it is turning our usual trade to alternative shops and we fear it will have a lasting effect on the shop.

“We can’t afford to run the business.”

He added that for a time the shop was having no stock delivered. “We lost suppliers for a time being too as drivers didn’t want to follow the five-mile diversion or didn’t know where to go so we just had deliveries cancelled. We had no stock.

“We rely on day to day cash flow to run the business and we’ve just lost so much revenue.”

Nearby businesses also suffered similar struggles, with Debbie Glover, manager at the popular Barley Mow pub saying that the closures had definitely affected business.

With profits up year on year, she said that the dip in revenue in January was no coincidence and was a direct impact of the bridge closure, with some nights seeing not a single cover being taken in the restaurant.

Meanwhile, Frensham Garden Centre said how there were times of the day when not a single person was in the centre and that business had been “crucified” and the two weeks of chaos in the village had been “catastrophic”.

The January 19 crash saw a silver Honda CRV plough off the side of the East Bridge, landing on its side on a small bank, narrowly avoiding being plunged into the freezing River Wey.

The 55-year-old male driver suffered only minor injuries and escaped through the sunroof of the vehicle, with police confirming no charges were made against the driver, putting the incident down to the car “skidding on ice”.