Gloucestershire garden centre Trioscape is fighting a proposal by Severn Trent Water to close a 2.6k section of the main road outside for five months.

Seven Trent says safety is paramount during work to replace a water pipe and it will be putting up ‘businesses open as usual’ signs.

However, Trioscape manager Will Ormand says he has “grave fears” that the work, due to start in February, will have a massive long-term impact on the garden centre, which recently completed a major investment in its gift area and restaurant.

He said that although previous road works nearby had seriously affected the business, it had only only been for a maximum of a month at a time.

“The last time was for fibre broadband, which we understood. This is for five months,” he added. “We are very fearful because the closure notice will come in our busiest time of year and will mean us missing all the bank holidays, which are the bread and butter for garden centres like ours.

“Customers are put off by road works and once they change their trends, we will struggle to get them back. This road closure will not only have a devastating effect on our local businesses but also the thousands of people who use this road on their daily commute.”

He has been told the garden centre will be entitled to compensation but does not believe it will cover the losses and it could have a long term impact.

Residents face a 50-minute detour during the disruption. Hundreds have signed a petition launched in protest.

Severn Trent’s Gareth Mead said: “We don’t take the decision to close roads lightly but it’s vital to keep our teams, pedestrians and road users safe.

“We’re very aware of the concerns of local people and businesses about the closure but we’ll be putting out very clear signage highlighting that businesses remain open as normal, and school buses will be allowed through for drop off and pick up like normal.

“The really important thing here is that we’re investing £3 million in the area to make sure our customers have a reliable water supply in the future, while also significantly reducing the likelihood of leaks and bursts.”