SHOP owners will petition council officials for compensation this week after their road was blocked off for demolition works.

Nile Street in Burslem reopened last Tuesday after being partly closed for just over a week while the former Royal Doulton factory was bulldozed.

Traders are now grouping together to write to Stoke-on-Trent City Council to ask for compensation for the loss of up to three-quarters of their earnings. They say the council did not warn them about the road closure in enough time for them to let customers know or make alternative arrangements.

Pets Pantry owner, Martin Gray, pictured, claimed he lost up to 20 per cent of his usual trade.

He said: "If we had been given time to warn customers it would not have been so bad, but we were only told on the Friday, the road would be closed on the Monday."