Shops on Patmos Parade, Burnley Road, Todmorden are now fully open again after months of disruption during the Environment Agency's scheme to replace a culvert over the River Calder, which runs in front of the shops.

The scheme, which has been jointly funded by Calderdale Council and the shop owners, has taken longer than expected, with shop closures also longer than anticipated as unforeseen circumstances arose, including the collapse of the front of the Kamran Newsagent's shop into the river as the badly corroded concrete beams were being removed.

The finishing touches are expected to take three to four weeks to complete and full access has already been restored to all the shops.

Andrew Coen, Environment Agency project manager, said the decks were all in place and it was now a case of pinning them before grouting the linkages, surfacing the new culvert and installing a small wall and railings. When all the work has been completed planters and benches will be placed on the area in front of the shops, which has spent more than five years fenced off for safety reasons.

But Ilias Ali, father of the owner of Kamran Newsagent's, said the disruption had severely affected trade.

"We've had to close the shop several times since the work started, when the window broke and when they were doing the work.

"People think we're closed now because the window is boarded up and business is bad. We still have bills coming in but have lost all our customers: they're all going to other shops for their newspapers now. We may be open but this has done long-term damage to the shop."

Mr Coen said that compensation was not likely to provide an answer in this situation as the shop owners were partially funding the scheme themselves.

When this section of the scheme is completed the road will be re-opened in front of the shops to allow for parking but the road closure will continue in front of the police station as work begins on that section of the culvert on Monday, July 28.

"The demolition will be the tricky part and we have a bit of work to do before we get down to the deck itself but we already know the first three beams are in a perilous condition.

"The police have a bridge for access at the moment and it's up to them if they want to keep access open. We can work round that if necessary," Mr Coen added.

This part of the scheme is scheduled to take about 12 weeks.