SHOPKEEPERS in High Wycombe are lamenting the fact that two massive redevelopment projects were started in the run-up to Christmas.

Managers say they are suffering because festive shoppers are not coming into the town centre due to a shortage in car parking space and traffic hold-ups at Handy Cross.

But district council bosses said they believed the long-term benefits were worth the short-term disruption, and that they had no choice but for work to run over the Christmas period.

The Eden project, a £130 million shopping and leisure development in the town centre, began work in early October and the Handy Cross revamp started later that month. Bridge Street car park has been closed completely and Newlands has also lost space.

Shoki Hussain runs Escapade, in The Octagon. He said: "People do not want to come into the town because they can't park. I have had several people mention this to me.

"Even people I know, my friends, have said they don't fancy coming into the town because they don't want to get stuck in traffic."

Mr Hussain said his pre-Christmas sale hasn't helped his business and is worried about the future. He said: "It is quiet. The sale has not helped, there just aren't that many people around."

Elias Bacchus runs BAC Marketing, a novelty stall in The Octagon.

He said: "I had one good day last week. I thought this is the start of the Christmas rush' but then it was really quiet for the rest of the week. I do not think they could have chosen a worse time to start it Eden."

A district council spokesman said: "Eden is a two and a half year project, regardless of when it started, construction would have straddled at least two Christmas shopping periods. We sympathise that Eden is likely to cause some difficulties during its construction but believe that the long-term benefits are worth the short-term disruption. The Handy Cross redevelopment is also a long awaited improvement that will hopefully address the appalling congestion that motorists face at this busy motorway junction. It too had been planned for many years and the responsibility for the timings lies with the Government's Highways Agency."