A controversial Bus Showcase scheme in Coventry has been extended despite pleas from traders to scrap it.

Business owners in Foleshill Road have been calling for the bus lane outside their shops to be removed for two years.

They say that the restrictions on cars has put people off visiting their shops and created extra congestion and pollution.

Councillors today visited the stretch of road to see the problems for themselves.

Members of the Environment and Transportation Executive Panel agreed that urgent changes needed to be made to road markings to allow cars to turn out of Eagle Street safely.

But they told the traders that the Bus Showcase scheme was in Coventry to stay.

The route into the city centre aims to promote bus usage by providing a frequent service and vehicles that are easy to get on and off.

Part of the scheme included turning one of the lanes in Foleshill Road into a bus lane.

Hughie Hancox, who runs a motorcycle shop in Foleshill Road, said people living in the area did not want the bus lane.

He said:

“We were here before the bus lane and we know how the traffic flowed then. It really is very dangerous now.

”You want our business rates but half the businesses here have closed now.”

Arti Panchmatia of the Foleshill Road Post Office said traders were desperate for a solution to their woes.

She said:

“Ninety-eight per cent of the population is claiming a lack of parking facilities in the area.

“Because of the traffic congestion pollution is increasing and it is affecting elderly people and people who are asthmatic.”

But Cllr John McNicholas (Labour, Lower Stoke) said:

“Bus Showcase is here to stay. What we have to do is try and resolve the issues that you raise as a community.”

He said that the issue of creating a lay-by for extra parking could be looked, but the cost was currently estimated at £130,000.

Cllr McNicholas added that there was a possibility that European funding could be found to help pay for the work, with inquiries being made to the Single Regeneration Budget and European Regional Development Fund.

He said that if the panel met the traders’ request and made a final decision today it would not be the solution that they wanted.