Shopkeepers today claimed their businesses are going to the wall because of roadworks which have brought mayhem to rush hours.

Queues of traffic hundreds of yards long are forming in Bradford Road near Thornbury roundabout throughout the day, following the closure of two of the carriageway's three lanes for major reconstruction.

And the bosses of businesses on the busy city-centre link road claim the gridlock is preventing their customers from pulling over and using the shops.

Since the work began a fortnight ago, fish and chip shop owner Kashmir Javanda claims his profits have dropped by 90 per cent, while Banjos delicatessen boss Paul Schofield has been forced to lay off two staff and cut the hours of others.

They both claim they were not warned beforehand about the work, which will take another six weeks to complete, and they plan to appeal to Bradford Council for compensation for loss of trade.

Bigger businesses are also suffering, with the Odeon Cinema complaining to the Council about work to the roundabout, and Club Indigo being forced to reassure customers they can still drive into the health club.

Mr Javanda said: "Business is so quiet there is hardly any point coming to work, but I stay open for my regulars. I am losing a lot of money."

Mr Schofield said: "I can't make deliveries because they take too much time, and I am having to keep ploughing my own money into the business to stay afloat. If the Council had warned us beforehand we could have planned for this."

His assistant Caroline Greenwood said: "I was supposed to be booking my holidays today but now I have had my hours slashed I can forget it. But I am the lucky one - the other girls have lost their jobs."

Newsagent Gurjit Gill, who opened his business in Novem-ber, said: "My business relies on passing traffic but now no one will pull over because they are afraid they will not be able to get back into the queue.

"I am not even making a profit anymore, but I still have a wife and nine-month-old son to feed. We are just tightening our belts and hoping for the best."

Bradford Moor councillor Sakhawat Hussain, who is having discussions with the Council's highways department, said: "I have a lot of sympathy for businessmen in that area. I have driven along there myself and it is very bad."

A Council spokesman said: "We sympathise with these traders, but the work must be done and we are doing our best to keep disruption to a minimum. The Council has a statutory duty to maintain roads in the district."