ONE of Ashford's oldest independent retailers says the new ring road is driving customers away.

Sally Starley has owned Tiny Tots, in Bank Street, for almost 30 years. She says business has never been so bad.

She said: "A lot of my customers aren't local. A customer the other day had come all the way from Crawley and arrived at the shop in floods of tears, saying she would never come to Ashford again because of the traffic and the signs.

"I thought it was supposed to be opening Ashford up, but it is going to drive people away.

"They might as well have a sign up saying Ashford is closed."