Radstock Town Council has been urged to strongly fight plans to put up barriers and keep shoppers socially distanced as the lockdown is eased.

Angry traders insist that the plans mean all parking will be suspended and it will be devastating for shops already badly hit by coronavirus.

The Council meeting heard that Radstock, with narrow pavements, has been identified as an area within B&NES where keeping people two metres apart will be difficult.

So B&NES highways have come up with plans which will lead to the area around Fortescue Road behind a barrier system - in turn drastically cutting the number of parking spaces for shoppers.

This will according to Cllr Eleanor Jackson : " Cause dramatic harm to the traders along Fortescue Road. Businesses who are already fragile and only just keeping their head above water."

She told the Radstock Town Council meeting (June 15) that widening the pavements would simply encourage what she called "crazy cyclists. " We have to save the traders."

She told councillors she had already sent a very strong email saying that she simply did not see any need for the pavement widening.

Cllr Bruce Shearn agreed saying that the plans to widen the pavements would " cause real hardship to the shops."

Councillors were told that a representative from B&NES had visited Radstock and the plans had already been amended to increase the number of spaces by a further five.

But this is unlikely to mollify the traders who have already started a campaign to fight the changes.

They started a social media campaign saying that they understood as of next Monday (June 22) all parking alongside the small business shops of Radstock is going to be suspended.

On their social media post they wrote: " As many of you will appreciate, the smaller, independent businesses along here have already taken a massive income loss over the last 12 weeks, and with this suspension in place the majority of them will further suffer substantially reduced trade in these already exceptionally strained circumstances. Every shop here has already invested in more than adequate measures and new, in-depth health and safety reviews and changes. We can see absolutely no benefit to suspended parking. With all parking suspended the very real reality is that numerous traders here will be forced to sacrifice staff or in the worst cases; shut up shop."

They have called on Radstock residents to email their councillors to fight the change.

However at the Town Council meeting the Mayor Rupert Bevan said: " I suppose B&NES hands are tied with this too.. we can ask them to look again at it, but they don't have to listen. We just have to hope that this will be under constant review."