In the dark over holiday weekend road closure

Gavin Reay, licensee of the Anchor Inn, at Whittonstall, said the closure of the Grey Mare Hill Road, linking the village to the A68 at Kiln Pit Hill, could damage trade over the Whitsun Bank Holiday.

Northumberland County Council intends to close the road between 7.30am and 5pm from May 25 to May 30 for maintenance work.

But the first Gavin knew of the closure, only yards from his pub, was when he was contacted by the Courant this week.

Such road closure plans used to be published in the Courant . But the council has withdrawn such notices from the Courant since December, instead placing them in the Alnwick-based Northumberland Gazette .

A notice about the Whittonstall road closure appeared in the Gazette last week.

Now Gavin and his wife Karen, who have run the Anchor for the past 11 years, are backing the Courant’s Your Right To Know campaign, which is calling on the council to reinstate notices in the Courant .

Gavin said: “We have not received any notification from the county council about this road closure.

“We provide food and accommodation. A lot of our customers come along that road from the A68, so this could well affect the business.”

Karen added: “We read the Courant , and you would expect to find notice of a road closure in your local paper.

“This closure will happen during one of the busiest times of the year for us.”

During the road closure, traffic will be diverted north of Whittonstall, along the road to the Scales Cross junction on the A68.

The county council continues to come under pressure to restore notices to the Courant . Legislation obliges local authorities to place notices in local newspapers which circulates in the vicinity.

Last month a petition, bearing the name of 2,700 supporting the campaign, was presented to the council.

And Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has also called on the council to relent.