Business as usual for Middle Rasen owners

The A46 in Middle Rasen is now back up and open after Lincolnshire County Council finished a £600,000 flood prevention project.

The Rasen Mail spoke to businesses in the village to hear how things have improved since the road reopened on Thursday, October 18.

Andy Blagojevitch owns the Crossroads Stores and claims that poor signage during the temporary closure was a 
contributing factor to loss of takings for businesses.

He said: “The signage could have been better - it wasn’t clear enough for traffic.

“After the first couple of weeks, business certainly picked up.

“During the first two weeks, we were down by 30 to 35% in takings.”

Mr Blagojevitch added that business has started to pick up since the A46 reopened.

The Rasen Mail also spoke to Taha Rashid, the owner of the Middle Rasen Car Wash at the site of the former RCH Motors.

Taha said: “During the closure of the A46, it was very bad.

“More people are coming now the road is open.

“Business has got a bit better but I haven’t noticed much of a 
difference yet.

“I think that most people think the road is still closed.”

Mr Rashid plans to consult Lincolnshire County Council over his loss of takings.

Mark Andrew owns Mark Andrew Vehicle Sales, and says the closure had a huge impact on business.

He said: “Business has started to pick up now, but we were 50% down in takings for most of the seven week closure.”

He added: “They could have completed the work sooner if they had worked seven days a week, 24/7.”