Budleigh barricaded

On the afternoon of Saturday, February 21, after a long drive down from Oakham, my fiancee and I arrived at Budleigh Salterton with the intention of finding somewhere to stay for a long weekend and enjoy dinner, cream teas and so on. Imagine our surprise to find the town barricaded and no access!There was no explanation regarding what was going on or why it is designated residents only and no diversion sign telling visitors how to find their way into the town. After driving around fruitlessly looking for a diverted traffic sign and finding nobody local to ask, we retreated to Exmouth and found somewhere to stay there. Surely local businesses in Budleigh Salterton do not want visitors kept out? So what on earth is going on? At a time when any business should be welcome anywhere, the �289 we spent over the weekend on accommodation and meals etc was to the benefit of Exmouth and Exeter. Multiply the cost of this loss of business to the town hundreds of times and the impact is substantial. Budleigh Salterton must be losing masses of passing trade as we were not the only people giving up.While we were looking for a way into the town, there were several other cars turning around at the barricades and heading back the way they had come. The cost to local business of this very badly managed and poorly considered exercise must be verging on being ruinous. The reason for the barricades and very unwelcoming signs remains a mystery. There is no mention of it on the town website. If I was running a local business, I would be hopping mad at this total breakdown in communications by whoever is responsible for the barricades. Clive P Sherwood, Magna House,Lyndon Road,Hambleton, Oakham, Rutland.