Celebration for Park Road Fisheries couple as Crosland Moor roadworks end
Aug 4 2010 by Kevin Core, Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Park Road Fisheries Chris and Melanie Laws
FISH and chip shop owners Chris and Melanie Laws have a double reason to celebrate.
Their 25th wedding anniversary has coincided with the end of roadworks which they say have been playing havoc with their business.
The pair run Park Road Fisheries at Crosland Moor but they say 16 weeks of work on gas mains outside their shop on a corner of Blackmoorfoot Road has cost them up to 25% of their takings.
Now however they have seen the holes in the road finally filled in and the temporary four-way traffic lights removed, and they are celebrating by offering free chips with all fish sold for this week only!
Chris said: “We’ve been here for eight years and this whole period has been a nightmare for everyone here.
“The work took a lot longer than they expected because they couldn’t find an outlet pipe, filled in the hole and then found it six feet from where they started off.
“On Monday though they filled in the holes and we can’t wait until they’re gone.
“We think we’ve lost a couple of hundred pounds a week, our takings are down by about 25%.
“The newsagent next door has been affected and the man who runs the film rental shop next door has also struggled.
“If drivers see those traffic lights then they don’t want to get snarled up in it and they don’t come near.
“The location of where they needed to dig was just terrible, right on a pedestrian crossing and it severely affects custom.
“The concern that you have about customers who are put off in that way is that you don’t know if you’ll get them back.”
The couple are hoping that the week long offer will bring back their regulars.
Nita Patel, whose family runs the adjacent newsagent said: “It has affected us really badly, business has been slow.
“A newsagent is the kind of thing people like to park up and just pop into so it has been very difficult.”
Melanie said the couple have had years of experience of running businesses around Huddersfield, but this has been one of their biggest challenges yet.
