Shopkeepers have hit out at proposals to make a cycle lane outside their shopfronts permanent.

Business owners in Belsize Park told the Ham and High that the lane installed by Camden Council last year has affected trade, costing them many customers.

The authority has now launched a public consultation on whether to make the trial scheme in Haverstock Hill permanent.

In December, this paper reported that four shops in the street had shut since the introduction of the cycle lane.

Dean Phipps, owner of Frame Factory, claims that this is the result of a lack of parking.

He said: “Some people just haven’t been able to deal with it because of the parking.

“The reason why we’ve maintained trade is because we are offering to deliver work for people, as opposed to them picking it up, at our own cost.

“It affects my business, it affects my customers, it affects my trade.”

The loss of loading bays in the road for deliveries is another problem Frame Factory has encountered as a result of the cycle lane.

Dean said: “We have regular glass deliveries and the driver has to carry these large sheets of glass down the street because there are no loading bays.”

He added that he believed “most business owners” in Haverstock Hill would be opposed to making the trial scheme permanent.

Stefanos Uleri, the manager at Greenberry Hill restaurant, claimed that he had faced similar problems to those experienced by Frame Factory.

He said: “We still have customers cancelling tables because they cannot find any parking. We are still in the same situation as we were [in December], nothing has improved.”

“This morning I had a van parking in front of the restaurant because there are no loading bays for the shops.”

Ham & High: Camden Council has launched a consultation as to whether to make the cycle scheme permanent Camden Council has launched a consultation as to whether to make the cycle scheme permanent (Image: Camden Council)

Under Camden Council’s new proposals to make the scheme permanent, there will be additional loading bays, disabled bays and paid-for parking spaces near businesses in the area.

Mr Phipps said he believed that if there were extra loading bays near Frame Factory, this would improve safety on the street, as heavy items would not have to be transported as far for delivery.

But he added: “To be honest – we’ve got one of the widest pavements in London here and they still took away the parking spaces.

“[The cycleway] could’ve been routed through a part of the pavement.”

Camden Council’s consultation on making the cycle lane scheme permanent is set to end on May 28.

Cllr Adam Harrison, cabinet member for a sustainable Camden, said: “Following the feedback received and lessons that we have learned during the trialling of the scheme, we are proposing to upgrade some of the features that we trialled but also make several further changes.

“The final decision on whether to go ahead with these proposals will be made based on evidence including our engagement and consultation responses, relevant policies, officer observations, and other data and information collected over the course of the trial.

“I would therefore urge residents, businesses and all other stakeholders to let us know their views on our plans for the scheme by responding to the consultation.”