EXTENSIVE roadworks in Silsden and Farnhill are deterring customers and disturbing residents, traders claim.

The town and village have been littered with roadworks for several weeks, and Silsden has received a double-whammy of 'holes in the road' with both Yorkshire Water and Transco doing work on the main street.

Several roads including New Road and Aire View have been closed off and traffic lights on Kirkgate have caused havoc with traffic queues. On Tuesday dinnertime traffic entering Silsden stretched as far back as the A629 roundabout.

Anne Mitchell, who runs Dogsbody and Friends, a pet store on Kirkgate, said: "It's affecting business. I've got four holes surrounding my shop so people can only get in on foot.

"There's nowhere anyone can park. The only place people can park is at the other end of town and nobody in their right mind would carry a 15 pound bag of dog food down there."

She added that on certain days last week it was not worth opening at all and her usual three-minute journey to work is now taking 20 minutes.

Wendy Hill, proprietor of Hill's Bakery, also on Kirkgate said: "It's a nightmare. We've had a big drop in takings especially since they closed Aire View off.

"This last week has been the pits. On Saturday morning we might as well have stayed in bed."

Even getting the post has become a problem, with the postman taking an extra 30 minutes to get round South Craven due to the delays."

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "We are re-lining some of the water pipes which is a vital job. The work is not likely to be finished this week, but on Tuesday evening we took down the traffic lights to ease congestion.

"Some water supplies were affected, but those residents were notified prior to the work."

Transco's work in Silsden was on a much smaller scale.

A spokesman said: "Our work was part of an on-going mains replacement project. We started in August but were delayed when another utility began work in the town. When we finish is largely dependent on when the other company has finished work."

Silsden mayor, Lawrence Walton said: "As far as Silsden is concerned this is a disaster. All I can do is appeal for people to be careful while the work is on-going."

Farnhill residents have experienced similar problems with works off Main Street closing the road for three weeks.

Michael Hilton from Farnhill Village Stores likened his village to Afghanistan during the work on the water mains.

"The toil on the business has been absolutely terrible. People can't get home because the road is blocked off. The noise of cars going over the boards is keeping villagers up at night.

"In the summer months tourists come to this place and say 'isn't it a lovely village'. They wouldn't say that now.

"Village stores are struggling enough and just can't cope with this. This feels like a nail in the coffin."

Mr Hilton told the Herald that since the road works had been put up, his takings were down by at least 75 per cent. He is demanding compensation from Yorkshire Water who is undertaking the work.

Yorkshire Water has said it will consider compensation claims from local traders on an individual basis, if they can prove loss of business due to the delays.

The Farnhill work has been completed and the workmen will move away from the village after it is tidied up.