Greenwich traders win concession over their great barrier grief

 
Greenwich market Pic: Nigel Howard
Alexa Baracala1 August 2012

Olympics chiefs were today forced into a partial climbdown over “heavy handed” stewarding tactics after they were accused by Greenwich shopkeepers and restaurateurs of killing their trade.

Locog has agreed to remove barriers on the route from Greenwich rail station to the Greenwich Park equestrian site, which businesses said were funnelling spectators away from their premises.

With official stewards also directing the tens of thousands of extra visitors onto a set route between the station and the park, nearby restaurants, galleries and shops, including those in Greenwich market, have been virtually empty.

Strict advertising rules mean traders have had to remove their usual “A-boards” from outside their premises and are banned from handing out flyers.

Traders say takings are as much as 60 per cent down from previous summers.

But following protests on Twitter and complaints by angry traders, Locog has agreed to remove the barriers “for a trial period” today and tomorrow. A Locog spokesman said: “The barriers were put in place to manage the crowds … spectators are being encouraged to enjoy all that Greenwich has to offer.”

However, traders will still be banned from advertising to the fans and they fear stewards will continue to direct spectators away from their premises.

Kate Hill-Smith, who owns the Red Door café and gift shop near the market, said: “We thought the Olympics would be like Christmas. We got extra staff. This is potentially disastrous.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in