Owners’ fury at lost trade
Furious traders forced to shut up shop in Wishaw yesterday said the SDL demo should not have gone ahead.
Many put up shutters for a few hours while others closed altogether.
One of the town’s most popular pubs, The Wishaw Malt in Kirk Street, was shut until 6pm.
The popular Avenue cafe in Main Street was also closed. The owners apologised to customers on Facebook, telling them it was because of the SDL march.
Mohammad Aslam, who owns Infinity hardware store in Kirk Street, said: “This is one of the busiest days of the year but we’re very quiet.
“Wishaw is far too small a town to have a demonstration of this size. They should have had it in Glasgow or Edinburgh, not here.
“We’ve lost a lot of trade today, which we can’t afford. Things are hard enough without this on our doorstep.”
Anne Tress, who runs Higgins jewellers in Kirk Street with her husband John, put the shutters up outside her shop at 1pm as protesters gathered.
She added: “I welcome refugees to Scotland as they’ve come here from a war zone. They’ve experienced some terrible things in their own country.
“It’s eerily quiet and we’ve hardly had a customer. I think they’ve stayed away because of the march.”
Esther McArthur, who runs the Beer Barrel off sales in Main Street, shut her shop as she was worried that it would be targeted by yobs.
She added: “It just doesn’t feel safe.”
Gary Jones, who owns D&G tyres and exhausts, reckons he lost about £300 in business due to the protest.
He added: “The street has been closed off to traffic for most of the day and customers can’t get in or out. It’s a lost day for business.”