A CHARITY shop in Haslemere is calling on Surrey County Council to have a change of heart in its plea for compensation after eight weeks of road works caused the loss of thousands of pounds and had a profound effect on its essential work in the local community.

The trustees of the Bordon Liphook Haslemere Charity said they were “shocked” to find that SCC had refused to even consider compensating the charity for the loss of business, after the road outside its shop at the foot of Shepherds Hill, was partially or fully closed for nearly eight weeks earlier this year.

The problem began when a section of the road opened up to reveal old foundations of by-gone buildings at the busy junction of Shepherds Hill in January. The road was closed and traffic diverted during extensive repairs to one of the main arterial roads into the town centre.

Bob Monteath, chief executive of the Bordon Liphook Haslemere Charity, said: “It was an absolute nightmare for an ‘A’ road to be closed for that length of time. The hole appeared and nobody seemed to know about it and there was an entire week where not one single workman was there. I would have thought an ‘A’ road should have had more priority.

Now Mr Monteath has called on the county council to think again, amid claims the shop lost 39 per cent of sales over the period and half of its donations of clothes and other items it sells, to help and give grants to people in financial need, in the local community.

Mr Monteath, who claimed the shop had suffered a significant loss of income because of the incident, added: “As a result the charity may not be able to support as many families who need the charity’s help.

“Not only did we lose that income, the amount of donations are ongoing – we still don’t have the shop stocked to the level we would like and sales have not picked up even now. We asked for a specific amount which was basically all our costs and loss of income over that period.”

In his letter asking for compensation Mr Monteath told Surrey as a result of the loss the charity was not able to help families in the community needing its assistance.

He added: “The loss would have helped provide furniture and white goods for up to eight families or give food vouchers to 80 families.”

The charity which has been in existence for around 23 years runs four charity shops in Haslemere, Grayshott, Liphook and Bordon.

“The general public donate goods to sell and in return we give grants of around £400 each to those in desperate financial need.

“We have given away £1.1million since the charity started in furniture, and electrical goods and food vouchers to complement local food banks,”said Mr Monteath, who paid tribute to his loyal and dedicated staff.

“Volunteers come in every day, bless them, they are doing a tremendous job in keeping the place going.”

Charity chairman Michael Gallagher added: “While legally the highways authority may not be required to compensate the charity, we feel there is a moral duty.

“We will continue to try and support all those families who apply to us for grants, but inevitably we may be forced to make some difficult decisions.”

In its reply to Mr Monteath turning down the claim for compensation Surrey County Council said there was “no statutory provision for compensation by the highway authority if a business is affected by road works.”