GWENT businesses are ‘up in arms’ as they say Velothon road closures will force them to stop trading.

The race on June 14, which will see more than 15,000 cyclists take part, will force main roads to close for the whole day, causing major problems for traders.

The main route enters the county borough at Hafodyrynys, and then follows the A472 before proceeding up the Newbridge bypass, through Maesycwmmer, along the A469 Llanbradach bypass to the ‘Cedar Tree’ roundabout, along the A468 to Bedwas Bridge roundabout, into Caerphilly town centre along Bedwas Road and then up through the town and over Caerphilly Mountain to Cardiff.

The main ‘mass participation’ event would then be followed by an elite race in the afternoon which would follow the same route, but includes additional laps of Caerphilly Mountain which will involve wider road closures in and around the town centre.

But business owners and residents are outraged at the plans which they believe will cause huge financial losses.

Anna Jones owner of Usk Garden Centre in Llanbadoc, said the road closure will see her lose around £10,000 in profit during ‘peak season.’

“It’s just frustrating for us because it’s our main bulk of trade [at that time],” she said.

“It’s a really big trading day for us and will be a huge financial loss for us.

“I feel that we haven’t had any information or any apology at all- do they care about local businesses?

“It’s ridiculous.”

Significant sections of both routes would pass through Gwent, and Caerphilly county borough, throughout the day.

Organisers require the route to be completely closed to traffic for significant periods of time, in some cases for up to nine hours or more.

Tom Irving, owner of Llangybi village shop on the Usk Road for the past ten years, will also be closing for the day as a result.

“Some of our customers won’t be able to get to us,” he said.

“We haven’t heard from them [the organisers] at all.

“The road closures mean lots of businesses will be closing.”

Back in April the Argus reported how residents were offered the opportunity to share their views on the closures with the local authority after cabinet members voted in favour of further public consultation last month.

A council spokesman said residents will be receiving leaflets this week, but residents feel it its ‘too late.’

Velothon Wales is being promoted by the Welsh Government and involves a 140km route along with a shorter 50km route.

A Velothon Wales spokeswoman said: "We are still in the process of working with local residents and businesses who will be affected by the Velothon Wales route in order to minimise disruption as much as possible, whilst also delivering an enjoyable - and most importantly completely safe event - for the 15,000 participants who will be taking part.

“We would urge any residents who are concerned about access in and out of their homes to check the exact details of the route on the Velothon website and if they are still concerned, to contact us using the information at http://www.velothon-wales.co.uk/en/route/route-information/road-closures."