Trade fear as landslip shuts road

Tonnes of earth and rubble collapsed into the garden

Traders say they fear for their future in a south Wales valley town after one of its main roads collapsed into a garden, forcing its closure.

Station Road in Bargoed was closed a week ago after it moved, causing a wall and rubble to tumble into a garden where work was being carried out.

There is now a 20 ft (6m) drop into the garden and the owner of the property fears there will be more slides.

It is expected to be another three weeks before it is reopened.

This is a hard enough month anyway, but now it is just awful Greengrocer Gareth Astley

Ray Singh, 40, who owns the property, told the BBC news website he had been carrying out levelling work in his garden on 9 January when a 125-year-old wall supporting the road collapsed.

The pavement also slipped and he feared the road at the bottom of a railway embankment was unsafe.

"It is just lucky there was no one directly under the wall because someone could have been killed," said Mr Singh.

The wall and road collapsed into Ray Singh's garden

He blamed the weakness of the wall on a constant flow of water from the top of the embankment which runs under the road and into his garden to a river.

The closure of the road, which is the main route into the town from Aberbargoed and Deri, has had a massive impact on trade, say businesses.

Steven Vokes, who runs a petrol station, said his business was losing about £4,000 a day.

'Negative effect'

"Our regular customers from Aberbargoed and Deri can't come to us because of the road diversion and it has really hit us hard," he said.

"And I know we are not the only ones, the traders in the centre are really suffering. People are really worried.

"I think the council needs to work a bit quicker to get the road reopened because it is having a really negative effect for the traders and no one wants to see businesses close."

Gareth Astley, who runs fruit and veg shop Laurels, said: "This is a hard enough month anyway, but now it is just awful."

An emergency closure order is in place in Station Road

"We have lost about 50% of our trade because the people from Aberbargoed and Deri aren't coming into town.

"It is a huge worry for everyone. I just think the council needs to move a lot quicker to get the road reopened as soon as possible."

A Caerphilly Council spokesman said the road between its junctions with Bristol Terrace and Factory Road would be closed at least until 30 January.

"We are doing everything we can," he said.

Engineers were trying to find the reason for the wall's collapse and survey work was underway to find out how long repairs will take.

"We are keen to let people know that Bargoed is still open for business and all the shops in the town centre will continue to trade as normal during this period."