THE Bank of England may be well-known for propping up ailing companies but a local businessman has said it is ruining his with excessive roadworks.

Joel Nathan, director of the Academy venue, in Langston Road, Loughton, has said many people now think his business is closed because contractors working for the bank’s printing works opposite have dug up the road.

He said: “We have had a fairly decent relationship with the Bank of England. Now they've gone up both sides of the road with double yellow lines to stop people parking. It looks like the business is closed. We have got phonecalls saying 'are you still open?'.

“It's just the level of what they're doing. This morning there were about ten big trucks there, there's a three-way traffic light system - it's completely over the top. There's so many cones out there it's ridiculous.

“It's strange that they have never called at all. If there's a problem a phone call can be made.”

A spokesman for the Bank of England said an email had been sent out to neighbouring businesses on July 24 warning of the forthcoming road works.

But Mr Nathan said he had no idea the effect of the works would be this dramatic adding: “The email said they were carrying out minor repairs, not M25 digging up the whole road stuff.

“If they'd said that we'd have done something. What they're doing is nothing like what they proposed.” The Academy hit the headlines for the wrong reasons at the end of 2008 after a riot broke out at its new year party.

Mr Nathan said his business has moved on since then adding: “We know what it was like with the new year. In the last seven months we have gone through every hoop-possible including a licence review.

"We've moved forward with community stuff, and this is directly damaging our business.”