Retailers in The Borough have given a mixed reaction to the roadworks and news that Ringway, the firm responsible for the work, is running out of paving slabs.

For some, like Oxfam Books and Vinegar Hill, the impact has been small with sales generally holding up, perhaps because they are both shops that people visit for specific reasons.

However, across the road, Guru Charla, director of Techfog, said: “Sales are 60 percent down. And it is very hard to speak to people in the shop. We have a lot of older customers with hearing problems and sometimes we have to request the workers to stop for a minute so that we can talk to our customers. I’d be happy if they finished the work at night - they must finish soon.”

Bea Burns, manager of TG Jones said: “The shop is really dead at the moment but somehow we are making our targets I think maybe people are doing all their shopping in one go rather than little bits. And the building often shakes with the drilling. I think no-one wants to come into Farnham.”

She gave an ironic laugh about the shortage of paving stones. “You’d think they could have planned that; they should know how much they will need.”

Although she appreciates the look of the paving, she is unconvinced that The Borough will be improved with one lane for vehicles. “The traffic is going to be hellish,” she said.

However, Bernadette Davis, manager of Vinegar Hill, said she thought that the traffic might improve. “I hope the narrower roads will stop people cutting through the town centre on their way elsewhere.”

Work was scheduled to finish at the end of March, an idea that was greeted with skepticism by some, but Surrey County Council has asked that any extra work is done overnight in April.