A LEADING car dealership has warned it may close by Christmas as a senior councillor admitted businesses were suffering from the road changes in a Kent town.

Councillors tried to allay fears about the impact of the new two-way system on trade in Chatham town centre as members of the public, traders and opposition councillors expressed concerns at a full meeting of the council.

Carl Davis of Davis Motors in Rochester High Street warned councillors in the public question time that businesses were losing "huge amounts of trade".

And he added: "If nothing is done by the council, I have been authorised to say that at the end of the year Morris Forshaw will have to close."

Cllr Phil Filmer, the highways portfolio holder, said: "It was not the intention of this authority to cause problems to traders. We will look at it."

* SEE THE MEDWAY MESSENGER (NOVEMBER 10) FOR THE FULL STORY.