Shoppers desert "lethal" icy Marlow for Henley and Reading

7:46pm Wednesday 13th January 2010

By James Nadal

SHOPPERS have deserted Marlow in favour of Reading and Henley due to “lethal” car parks and pavements, an angry businessman has said.

Adam Marlow, 27, retailers spokesman for Marlow Chamber of Trade, lambasted council bosses for not treating pathways and car park surfaces, saying the town centre had been “hit hard”.

Some of the key footpaths were gritted two days ago in a joint effort by Wycombe District Council and Buckinghamshire County Council but Mr Marlow believes this was too late.

Mr Marlow, who co-owns Mekong oriental boutique in Spittal Street, said there is widespread anger, particularly about the WDC run car parks.

WDC said before Christmas it lacked the resources to put salt down on all of its car parks.

“I’m sure a lot of people will be asking the question what are the business rates for if they can’t even be bothered to grit the car parks we’ve got?” he said.

“Especially before Christmas it was ridiculous. I don’t know why they didn’t grit them before Christmas because it’s so important for us as a shop, it was the busiest time of the year.

“Now, it’s been a week full of snow before they’ve finally gritted the pavements.

“A lot of retailers are angry about it, the people in Marlow are annoyed and we’re angry about it as well.”

Customers have been telling retailers they have been shopping elsewhere because it has not been safe in the town, Mr Marlow said.

“We’ve heard people are going to Reading, Henley and other places because car parks there have been looked after. It’s definitely had a big impact,” he said.

“Especially at the back of a hard year for all the retailers, you’d think the least the council could do was sort the car parks.”

He also dismissed suggestions the council were afraid to grit the car parks for fear of being sued.

“How come then it’s okay for Waitrose to do their own car park and other councils like Hillingdon?” he said.

Mark Averill , Network Operations Manager, Transport for Buckinghamshire, said: “When weather of this magnitude hits, our priority has to be on keeping the main roads clear and open only then are we able to move onto working on our secondary routes.

“Once we’re satisfied that roads have been treated sufficiently and that traffic can use them safely, we can switch some of our manpower to gritting footpaths and pavements.

“With the worst weather in 30 years, it's taken us longer than usual to get around to treating footpaths, but salt bins have been regularly refilled to enable communities to treat side roads and paths where possible, and we are grateful to our colleagues in the districts and parishes for all their support ."

WDC cleansing staff have been aiding county officials gritting footpaths allowing BCC officers more time to fill salt bins.