THE FATHER of snooker player Stephen Hendry should have been celebrating his first year behind the bar of a village pub yesterday.
Instead, Mr Gordon Hendry was ruing the day a landslide on an embankment next to his inn closed off the main road which runs past the front door.
Mr Hendry, 49, said the road closure, which has been in place for more than one month and is set to remain until autumn, has meant his passing trade has virtually been cut off. He fears business will continue to die away while the closure remains to allow a council investigation into the cause of the landslip to be completed.
Edinburgh City Council has decided to keep Gillespie Road in the village of Colinton closed in the interests of public safety until September. A detour directs motorists away from the village while bus companies have also rerouted services.
Mr Hendry said: ''This is the anniversary of my first year in charge here but the effect of landslide has just been so bad for business. It has really hit passing trade during the day.
''The inn is right beside a bus stop so we don't even get the people coming in after they've been into town anymore.
''And I'm one of the lucky ones. It's only hitting me in the afternoons but other shopkeepers are missing out on the passing trade throughout the whole day.''
Mr Hendry has contacted his local councillor, Mr Brian Meek, to seek assurances about when the road might be opened.
Edinburgh City Council said Gillespie Road would be closed for ''some considerable time'' while remedial works were carried out.
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