A man whose shop was closed for 12 days after a shopping centre's roof collapsed has spoken of the 'disastrous' consequences the incident has had on his business.
Nick Karavanas, who co-owns vintage clothing shop Trash, was not working when part of a stone parapet at the Corridor came crashing down after snow settled on the roof on February 1.
Despite some businesses in the centre, off High Street, re-opening several days later, if not sooner, the 33-year-old said he has endured a much more difficult time.
When he returned nearly a week later, he found his shop floor was flooded as the melted snow had clogged the roof gully, causing it to leak.
This led to damage totalling more than £3,000, including ruined clothes and repairs needing to be done on the shop.
"When we came back my shop was flooded. It has been a nightmare," he said.
"We were closed when the snow came. I only found out about the Corridor closing through my mother who heard it in the local news.
"I have been in contact with the estate agent, Hartnell Taylor Cook, who kept me updated throughout the closure.
"We only opened again on Wednesday (February 13). It took nearly a week to re-open due to the flooding problems.
"The snow melted and the roof gully became clogged as a result. That then leaked into the shop. We have been closed for 12 long days.
"There must have been an inch of standing water. We had to rip up the upstairs floorboards - it has been a huge pain.
"It has been really terrible for me and my partner, who co-owns the shop. We rely on Saturday trade so much and unfortunately we have been closed for two Saturday's in a row.
"That has really hurt us this February. Straight after payday, it has been a bit of a disaster. I am relieved to be back here again.
"The scaffolding is a real eye-sore. I hope it can be taken down soon when the problem is fixed, but I have no idea how long that will be."
Mr Karavanas, whose shop used to be called Pop Club Vintage, is hopeful his insurance can cover this.
"This is around £3,000 worth of damage. That is a combination of damage to clothes, the shop and the lost trade on top," he said.
"I am hoping to claim this through insurance. The leak/flood was unrelated to the original corridor closure, it is just unfortunate it happened at the same time for us.
"The Corridor closure itself has just left us out of pocket through the lack of trade."
The manager of the neighbouring pizza restaurant Dough, Sam Stilo, said it has been a difficult period for businesses in the Corridor recently.
"We have been open for all of it (throughout the closure of the Corridor itself), as luckily we have an entrance from Northumberland Place, but trade is definitely down when comparing these last two weeks to the two weeks a year ago," he said.
"There has been a massive drop. Because there is not nearly as much passing trade, because it has been closed off, we have suffered and so have other businesses here.
"It would have been a disaster if it closed during the weekend for us, that is our busiest time.
"I think that people see the scaffolding and it puts them off. I hope it can be fixed soon because it is not good for business."
Staff at Route One, which sells branded streetwear, shoes and skate gear, said the store was closed for five days and that workers were told to evacuate the Corridor by police when parts of the roof caved in.
Workers at X-Cellent Nails and Beauty were shut for a week following the incident.
Other workers in the Corridor described what it was like when the roof began to collapse.
Julie Pymm, sales assistant at C The World travel agents, was at work at the time when part of the roof came down.
"There were two staff here at the time. The noise was like a bomb. It was very loud and very scary," she said.
"Everyone came out of the shops to see what was going on.
"More of the roof came down not long after 1pm but we were evacuated at around 2pm before the next chunk fell before 3pm."
Necmettin Akyol, of Moda Barber, added: "We were closed for four days. The weekends are a time where we have most of our appointments and haircuts.
"We were in at the time when it happened. We heard a loud bang. I am glad nobody was hurt. It is good to be back open again but we do not know what else is going on."
Operations manager at Society Cafe, Vicki Pattemore, said: "We were okay because we look out onto the street so we did not have to close, but many others did.
"It was quite scary. It was good that it was not very busy. If it was at the weekend it could have been quite scary.
"The Corridor team have been coming in to tell us what is going on. They tell us when they do checks on the place which is good."
Bath Live has contacted The Corridor team for comment.
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