The closure of Castletown square to parking has provoked criticism from traders and residents who say it is killing the retail heart of town.

But at least one business said they have never been busier.

Closing the whole square to parking has been under discussion since the regeneration scheme made it into a piazza-style community space.

Last year, the local authority agreed to keep the square open to parking except during events, until they had drawn up a parking strategy.

Now that strategy has been done and it encourages parking in one of the town’s car parks for which there are charges. On April 1 the square was closed until September 31.

Gift shop Gaslight has been very badly hit, said owner Sheree Bolleurs.

’Turnover is 50% down since April 1. It’s a nightmare. I’ve been taking pictures of the square at 3pm every day to show how deserted it is. It’s desolate, abandoned, empty.

’The vision is about getting young people involved in this cafe society. It’s great, but look at the demographic of people who come here. They’re 60 plus, they need to be able to park nearby. And for disabled people it’s terrible.’

She is drawing up a petition to fight the decision, but said: ’We are fighting a losing battle. They (commissioners) don’t listen. The compromise last year when half the square was closed was great.’

Owner of hardware shop JAC Stores Chris Blatcher said: ’The commissioners are shortsighted, and there has been no consultation.

’I wrote to them years ago and the letter was not even discussed at a meeting, which is totally wrong. Compare it with Ramsey (where there is another JAC store) where it is easier to talk to the authority. There are not the same open lines of communication with the commissioners in Castletown.’

He added: ’Whenever you take away parking it reduces footfall and it has an impact on turnover. Our comments appear to fall on deaf ears. I understand there are different viewpoints but in the long term we want to work in towns that work with us.

’Commissioners talk about turning it into a cafe culture and that doesn’t help traders.’

Laura King from the Italian Kitchen, which opened last year, is keeping an ’open mind’ about how it will affect business.

She said: ’I personally had a brilliant week in the shop and have actually been up on sales since the closure.

’I looked back on the same week of every month and the only month that was better than April was December, and that was when we were selling a lot of Christmas hampers.

’In fact on Saturday morning, I was so busy that I had a queue out of the door for almost the first hour of trading and we were rushed off our feet until about 1pm - so I am personally not experiencing anything different with the square being closed.

’When I walked through the square at 1.30pm on Saturday afternoon it was full of people having lunch on the benches, children running around in the sunshine and people stood about chatting.

’It was nice to feel that atmosphere again after a long winter and I am hopeful that it will grow as more tourists begin to arrive and the weather warms up.’

She added: ’It should not all be about the parking - because there is plenty of parking around the town that always has plenty of spaces available - but about how lucky we are as a town to have the castle overlooking us, the lovely harbour and such a beautiful market square to sit in with little businesses all around for people to explore, and events happening all through the year too. ’

â?¢The local authority has invited feedback on the square closure which it will consider at its next meeting. Write to the Civic Centre or email [email protected]