A SHOPKEEPER claims the £1.5 million revamp of York's Market has had a devastating impact on her fledgling business nearby.

Victoria Puckering said custom for her shop, The Yorkshire Coffee Beans in Little Shambles, dried up once work started on the refurbishment earlier this year, blocking the route past the shop into the market.

She said that on the day the work started, she took £85, the following day she made £35 and then on the third day she took just £8.

She said in a complaint to the council that trade was so bad that she cleared out the shop, which sold coffees roasted in Yorkshire, and moved temporarily into the basement of nearby Hebden Tea.

"Had we known there was work going on at the market for 16 weeks at this time of year, it would have made a difference for us leasing the shop," she said. "We feel the council should have disclosed this information before we took the lease on. " She also felt concessions should be made with both the rent and rates.

Meanwhile, an Italian restaurant owner has also claimed that he lost thousands of pounds worth of business after his outdoor eating area was closed when the market revamp started.

Gianni Crobeddu said the 25 square metre pavement cafe at the back of L'Antica Locanda in the Shambles lost great trade in the summer. He claimed he had invested about £18,000 in the outdoor area in 2011 after reaching an agreement with the then market management and said this investment would now be lost unless the authority allowed it to re-open once the refurbishment had been completed.

Philip Callow, head of asset and property management at City of York Council, said the authority had written to the coffee shop tenant offering a 'raft of support', which had included alternative trading opportunities to business support, to help them through the period.

"We have pointed out that the announcement of the refurbishment was made six months before the lease was signed and 12 months before the work actually began, at which point three rent-free months were agreed to allow for works on the premises."

He also claimed that two months before the market moved temporarily to Parliament Street, the coffee business had begun to accrue rent arrears.

Gill Cooper, the council’s head of city centre, said Mr Crobeddu has not been able to provide it with evidence of any such arrangement (to create the pavement cafe.) She added: "We’re discussing with traders and businesses how the potential of the market space can be maximized for all.”