ATHERTON traders fear that high street road closures in the run up to Christmas will ruin business at their busiest trading time of the year.

They are furious that they were left to find out about the six weeks closure order -- which runs from Monday to December 9 -- from workmen and newspaper advertisements.

Though many welcome the £1m pedestrianisation plan they are worried that the work has been started at the wrong time, and are appealing to loyal customers to support them during the upheaval.

However Wigan Council's engineering department yesterday moved to allay concerns.

In a statement an engineering spokesman said: "We are contacting all the affected property owners to explain the position to them. We apologise for the inconvenience and have instructed our contractors to finish work at the end of November to avoid disruption to Christmas shopping.

"These are major changes to Atherton's town centre which are the result of extensive public consultation. Both motorists and pedestrians need to be more aware while the work is taking place.

"We are trying to keep disruption to a minimum but there will be some inconvenience while it takes place. We believe the long-term benefits of the scheme will outweight the temporary disruption.

"We have consulted with traders and residents throughout this process and will be seeking further meetings to discuss the latest details once they are finalised."

Traders' chairman Jean Hart said: 'What has annoyed us is the fact that we have not been informed about what is going on. We are all in a quandary.

"Atherton is a terrific shopping place and customers come from all over. We'd like them to know that it is business as usual and we appeal to them to continue to support us."

Sylvia Hodson, who has been at Brickleys for 30 years, said business had been affected since the work started with lorries and barricades outside her door.

Jackie Clark, manager at Barnardos charity shop, said the number of bag deliveries from the public had fallen by more than a half.

And babywear shop proprietor Karen Higgins said she feared people would stop coming to Atherton just to avoid the work.

Cllr Sue Loudon said: "The traders have every right to be angry about not being informed about the work, but I am sure that when it is finished it will be a great asset to the town."