Pat Lavery Garage Horden was blocked off by road works

Tony Richardson, 55, claims Durham County Council "don't care" about small businesses after customers were left with no way to get to his garage earlier this week due to road works.

His business, the Pat Lavery Garage on Blackhills Road in Horden, says it saw periods of which where all three access routes to it blocked off because of the road works which were set to take place from July 15.

Road works on Blackhills Road in Horden. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Then, after further concerns were raised two days into the operation, works were changed to twilight hours from 6pm-12pm. 

Works along the road are expected to be finished by the weekend and drivers are now able to access the garage following mitigation by the council. 

However, even though works are set to wrap up in the next few days and customers can now access his garage, he feels frustrated regarding the way his business has been treated.

Speaking to The Northern Echo, Tony said: "Horden is on its knees - but we have been there for 30 years and have a thriving little business.

"There just feels like there has been no consideration for me and my small business - for a while I felt like I wanted to close for good."

Road works on Blackhills Road in Horden. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)

Works along the road are expected to be finished by the weekend and drivers are now able to access the garage following mitigation by the council. 

But Tony still feels upset with how the situation has been handled.

He added: "I thought, how am I going to pay my men? I have 10 men working in my garage - who is going to pay their wages?"

Paul Anderson, Durham County Council’s strategic highways manager, said: “We always do our best to minimise disruption to residents and businesses when carrying out road resurfacing works.

“These works are scheduled to be completed within eight days and we hand-delivered letters informing people of the works to all nearby properties two weeks before starting.

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“We also talked to staff at Mr Richardson’s business to make them aware of the plans in more detail and have endeavoured to maintain access during the works.

“The stretch of road being resurfaced takes in access for both residential and business properties and we’ve tried to balance the needs of everyone affected when planning the works.

“Following discussions with Mr Richardson, we have adjusted the programme and scheduled the remainder of the works to take place on evenings. We should be finished this weekend.”