Business owners 'terrified' over bridge rebuild

Along Station Road in Cross Gates, a cluster of businesses line the busy artery through the east Leeds suburb.

Some have been stationed opposite the railway for the past three decades, but their owners say work to upgrade the line is threatening their trade.

From late March, a bridge over the tracks will be demolished and rebuilt so the line between Leeds, Selby and York can be electrified.

But with early preparation work already reducing ing footfall, business owners have told the BBC they are "terrified" for their futures when full road closures come into effect.

Katie Ramsden established her coffee shop just over a year ago after her son, Tobias, was stillborn.

"You get more appreciation for life when something like that happens," she told the BBC, her café bustling with commuters hoping to catch the next train into Leeds.

HIT Coffee, which is named using a combination of her children's initials, gave Mrs Ramsden the opportunity to set her own hours, allowing her to spend more time with her family.

She is worried the works, which are part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, will stop people coming in.

"We bring our kids for breakfast before they go to school; our home and business life is now going to have to change drastically.

"We will be extremely restricted, we will not have footfall, we will not have drive-in traffic; it is petrifying.

"Without help, we will not be able to survive this, we do not have anything else; this is who we are."

The Station Road bridge, which crosses over the line next to Cross Gates Station, is currently too low to accommodate overhead wires.

The bridge, which was originally built in 1830 and widened twice in the decades after, will be removed and rebuilt at a higher level.

Between the 31 March and 25 November, the section of the southbound carriageway of Station Road across the railway bridge will be closed to enable construction work to take place.

One lane of the northbound carriageway will also be closed as will a nearby footpath.

Diversions will be in place during the closures.

Early preparation work began last week, with Northern Powergrid diverting services beneath the central reservation of the bridge.

The work is taking place directly outside florist Monroes.

Maria Brown has run the business for 35 years and says she received "no notification" the works were going to take place.

"The first time I knew, was seeing a sign at the top of the road telling me there were major works.

"We accept the work has to be done but the issue is we have not been told.

"When you ask a question like, 'how am I going to get access? How can my delivery people come on a morning":[]}