The boss of a Cheltenham window firm has hit out at Persimmon Homes with claims that a badly planned diversion is putting his business on the line.

Jeremy Phillips, managing director of Clearway Doors and Windows, which is based on Mackenzie Way and which employs 26 staff told Punchline-Gloucester.com that "misleading" signage for a diversion to allow Persimmon's current development of Regents Village has led to a significant amount of lost business with customers sent around in circles.

With crucial delivery consignments also being turning back in the belief that the business had ceased to exist, Mr Phillips said talks with Persimmon on site have been fruitless and the developer's advice has been to engage a solicitor and contact their legal department.

Persimmon made the closure to a section of Manor Road between the Runnings Road and Bence junctions on April 29 and Swindon Village Parish Council notified the community that the diversion is set to run until August 23.

But as soon as the block began, Clearway, which is in the cul-de-sac of Mackenzie Way, noticed a marked drop in visits and trade.

Mr Phillips said: "We had no prior contact before the diversion signs went up and the main access road has now been closed for many weeks. The diversion signage has proved very misleading and, despite engagement with Persimmon and some minor changes to the signs, customers and suppliers are still confused and are struggling to get to us. Basically the signage sends you round in circles."

He added: "I have had much communication with Persimmon, and have even met a representative on site but they remain generally unsympathetic to the fact that we are losing business due to the misleading signage. Other businesses have affixed their own signs to the temporary signage, but I have been told that this is illegal and I cannot do the same. Nevertheless the signs put up by others remain."

Clearway, which began trading in 1983, has been on Mackenzie Way with customer reception and manufacturing sites since 1992. Combined with operations in Gloucester, the firm, as a division of CDW Systems Ltd, employs 67 people.

Mr Phillips added: "We have now gone to the trouble of issuing guidance on our website, but customers don't always check online, and while these issues are hard to quantify precisely, we have noticed a marked drop in customer activity since the work began."

In advance of the closure, Russ Griffin, Persimmon's managing director, wrote to local businesses to apologise in advance for any inconvenience. A "small section" of Manor Road would have to be closed, he wrote, "for us to create an access road to the site to enable us to commence construction work."

Punchline-Gloucester.com has received the following statement from Persimmon Homes:

"As part of the works surrounding our Regents Village development in Cheltenham, we have needed to carry out necessary works to local infrastructure. This includes closing a small section of Manor Road in order to create a new site entrance for construction and keep the area safe for passers-by in the interim period.

"Throughout this process we have been engaging with the relevant authorities, including Gloucestershire County Council's Highways team and the businesses near to Manor Road. As part of our ongoing engagement with these groups, the council's Highways team visited the site the week commencing July 15 and were satisfied with the works, which are on track to be complete by August 23.

"We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience caused to business owners and road users."

The developer has also pointed out that the works to the road include a new site entrance, diverting existing and bringing new services in for the upcoming development. As part of a wider engagement, Persimmon Homes has also met with the local parish council to discuss the planned works in more detail.