A Banff baker claims she has been forced to temporarily to shut up shop due to ongoing building works on a neighbouring building.
Angela Wiseman, owner of Granny Bakes, says she has lost business due to renovations going on at the Tolbooth Hotel across the road.
Mrs Wiseman claims the works began “out of the blue” and insists she should have been given notice when the permit for scaffolding was approved.
She has now closed the shop, which only opened in October, until work is finished as customers were not going in.
In the meantime, she will be making wedding cakes from home.
She said: “We’ve lost over £7,000 of off-street sales so far, not to mention having to forget any speciality food fair to use as a launching platform.
“Works outside our shop announced themselves during the last week of April when totally out of the blue an artic lorry pulled up and a gang of workmen started slinging up the scaffolding.
“The worst part is that nobody warned us, not the council, not the persons having the work done, not a peep from anyone.”
Mrs Wiseman works in the bakery with her son and was preparing to take on more staff before business drooped.
She said: “It was no easy decision to make to shut but I’m trying my best to save our business.
“I’m now struggling to pay the shop bills and the icing on the cake, we couldn’t afford to keep paying the rent on the shop and the rent on our house so we’re now living with my in-laws.
“We’ve pretty much lost everything.”
Another business owner said he had felt “interruptions to business” while another said there was a little “inconvenience”.
Councillor Glen Reynolds said: “I think that sadly here there has been a breakdown in communication concerning the work and its timescale and shows there needs to be better communication between partners in the future.”
The work on the hotel was grant funded by Historic Environment Scotland and Aberdeenshire Council through the Banff Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme.
An Aberdeenshire Council spokeswoman said: “The road is still open and pedestrians and cars can still use the route.”
She also emphasised the council’s involvement was merely for funding purposes but Mrs Wiseman believes there should have been notice given when the permit for scaffolding was approved.