A FARNHAM shopkeeper says she and her business partner brother are considering relocating, claiming recent roadworks have lost them trade.
Terry and Julian Ripley have owned Remarkable Impressions gift shop in Cambridge Place, just off East Street, for four years.
Miss Ripley says their current takings are down by about a quarter, leaving them no higher than during their first Christmas in business.
She blames the recent roadworks to install traffic lights at the corner of South Street and Victoria Road for creating a traffic gridlock that is off-putting to potential customers.
"Nobody's coming down," she told The Herald on Wednesday. "Our takings have gone down at least 25 per cent. We're really struggling and we're thinking of going down to Brighton.
"We pay £250 a month in rates and we're just a small shop. If they're going to redevelop East Street we wouldn't be able to survive that sort of construction period."
Frustrated by the queues of traffic forming from East Street down South Street, Miss Ripley telephoned road engineers at Surrey County Council, who have since re-phased the lights, giving more priority to traffic coming down South Street.
Waverley district engineer Graham Hodgson told The Herald: "The lights have been adjusted to give greater weight to South Street and the amount of traffic exiting Victoria Road shouldn't be disadvantaged.
"They've been checked and they do appear to be more effective."
Mr Hodgson added that the increased congestion could be unrelated to the lights and simply reflect the Christmas rush.
Road engineers have previously said that once the permanent lights are finished - work has been aborted during the Christmas period - South Street traffic will have priority.