'Thriving' cafe is forced to shut after losing thousands due to road closure

MP SAYS OWNER'S REQUESTS TO NETWORK RAIL FOR CASH COMPENSATION 'FELL ON DEAF EARS'

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A "THRIVING" cafe has been forced to shut as a major road closure meant it was losing thousands of pounds every month.

The area's MP has described the response to the cafe's plight as “unacceptable” after pleas for a small amount of compensation “fell on deaf ears” - with the business losing as much as £10,000 in one month before it closed.

The owner of Dolly's Coffee Corner, in Rushcliffe, is furious with Network Rail after its project to demolish a bridge saw the three people employed at her cafe lose their jobs.

Gemma Robinson, 38, tried everything to get further support and keep the business afloat, but had to make the heartbreaking decision to close up on January 31.

The cafe was in business for two years and was based at the Hathernware Industrial Estate, off Rempstone Road, near the villages of Sutton Bonington and Normanton-on-Soar.

Business was booming as the cafe quickly gained a reputation for its special events, breakfasts and cakes - but trade immediately began to take a dive when a key stretch of the A6006 Rempstone Road was closed off.

Network Rail is rebuilding the Kirk Hill Bridge along the A6006. The yearlong project is set to eventually reduce congestion.

Work began in September last year. The Rempstone Road closure meant that villagers in Sutton Bonington and Normanton-on-Soar “were cut off” from accessing Dolly’s, according to the Labour MP for Rushcliffe, James Naish.

Although the journey became more difficult for people in those villages, it became practically impossible for customers living closer to Loughborough.

The Rempstone Road closure alone made the journey more difficult, given the need to approach Dolly's from the other side, but was even further hampered by the closure of several other roads to try and prevent drivers from rat running.

It spelled disaster for a business that Gemma said had formerly been “absolutely thriving”.