BUSINESS is picking up in the town once again, after the month-long road closure of one of the town s main arteries was lifted.

BUSINESS is picking up in the town once again, after the month-long road closure of one of the town's 'main arteries' was lifted.

The restrictions on West Hill in Budleigh Salterton were lifted last Friday afternoon - meaning can once again easily access the town's shops and boutiques.

The work is part of South West Water's �3.5 million region-wide mains improvement programme, now in its final phase, to improve water quality for over 3,000 properties.

But traders said the work had stifled trade because shoppers couldn't access the town centre.

In response town councillor and businessman, Steve Hall, owner of Too Cards, lobbied to ensure that the Rolle Street car park and the Town Hall car park remain free to visitors until Friday March 13.

Cllr Steve Hall said: "West Hill is the main artery from Exmouth and Exeter and because many of our customers couldn't be bothered to go around the diversions trade dropped.

"That route reopened Friday afternoon. Although I wouldn't say things are entirely back to normal, on the evidence of Saturday and talking to other traders things have definitely picked up."

However work will still continue in the area until March 31 when the scheme is due to finish.

Graham Murphy, South West Water's Director of Engineering, said: "We take great pride in delivering top-quality drinking water to our customers.

"The old, corroded water mains sometimes meant our water was not always arriving in the condition we would like.

"Scraping and relining them will help ensure everyone gets a sparkling glass of refreshing water when they turn on the taps, cutting down incidents of discolouration and enabling us to reduce chlorine levels. The work will also prolong the life of the mains."

Traffic lights will be in place on Station Road junction between February 23 and March 2.

From March 2 - 13 rolling two-way traffic lights will be in place along High Street as far as the War Memorial on Coastguard Road.

He added: "We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the inconvenience these essential works may cause and to say 'thank you' to everyone for their patience so far.

"We are almost there and would like to remind everyone that it is business as usual in Budleigh.