TRADERS fear they will be forced to shut up shop following months of delays to roadworks outside their premises.

Furious shopkeepers in Kingston Street have raised concerns about the works taking place between Centre Street and Tradeston Street, which were due to be completed in May

However in the last three months Scottish Water have announced five separate extensions to the works taking place as part of their £3.3m waste water improvement scheme in the area.

The most recent delay was announced yesterday, prompting questions from angry traders about when the works will finally be completed.

Narinder Bhardwaj, owner of Xpert computers on the affected section of Kingston Street said he will soon be forced to close his business or move it elsewhere.

The entrepreneur, who has been trading for five years, said he had no problems with business until the road works started.

Mr Bhardwaj said: “We are planning to close, or move somewhere else, because of the roadworks.

“There are only about 10 people left here, it is affecting us a lot and if it continues nobody will survive here.

“No traffic comes through here, nobody wants to come round this area anymore. ”

Mohammed Shahid, owner of clothing retailer Bonanza Wholesale, says the road closures have caused parking problems in the area and a lack of through-traffic which is impacting his business.

Mr Shahid, whose shop has been open on the affected area of Kingston Street for the past 28 years, said: “It affects our business big time.

“They had the road dug up before and put it back together again.

“There’s no traffic coming this way now and we depend a lot on that.

“We also haven’t been told about any delays, only when the work started but since then we’ve heard nothing. It’s not acceptable.”

Scottish Water said the work is part of a five year £250m project that will improve the waste water infrastructure across the whole city.

A spokesman said: “Contractors working for Scottish Water have been laying a new pipe down Tradeston Street and connecting it to an existing sewer in Kingston Street. During the work, a section of Kingston Street has had to be closed to through traffic.

We had expected to have completed this work and lifted the road closure in Kingston Street in May, but this has taken longer than we had anticipated.”

Scottish Water said the delay to the works has been due to burst water mains in the area, along with heavy rainfall. The excess water has meant groundwater levels were too high and had to be reduced before work could move forward.

The spokesman added: “We expect the work in Kingston Street to be completed, and the road closure lifted, next week.

“We have done everything we could to minimise any disruption to businesses in Kingston Street, including the use of Business as Usual signage in the area, but we apologise if some businesses have not been informed of the delay.”