A TEIGNGRACE business owner fears the new road closure in the village could ‘make or break’ her business after customers have already told her they are considering going elsewhere.

Olivia Elliott, who runs Olivia’s Doggy Day Care, said the closure of Teigngrace Road could have a devastating impact on her small business, with some customers facing a daily diversion of around ten miles.

‘This could make or break us’, Olivia said.

‘Last week, I had four customers tell me that they’re going to be leaving us, and this morning another said that they’re looking at other options.

‘Following the diversion, and going ten miles out of their way, every day, is just not doable for them’, Olivia added.

The road closure came into effect this morning (Monday, August 10) as part of the next stage of the multi-million-pound A382 improvement project between Newton Abbot and Drumbridges.

The road between Forches Cross and Stover School has closed to allow construction work to take place, including a new roundabout and the next section of a shared-use path.

Teigngrace Road has also been closed at Ventiford Bridge in an effort to prevent the village being used as a rat-run.

The closure will be ‘monitored closely’ to assess whether it is working effectively and will be ‘reviewed periodically’, the Mid-Devon Advertiser understands.

Olivia, who started her business aged just 17, has now been running the daycare for 13 years.

She said the business had already faced a major setback during the Covid pandemic, when she was forced to find work elsewhere after the daycare was badly affected.

‘We built it up and then came the pandemic, which destroyed us. I had to find work elsewhere’, she said.

‘In the past four years, we have put a lot of money into the business, just for this to come along.

‘It is going to ruin us all over again, just for the sake of pleasing a few people in the village’, she added.

Olivia said the potential loss of customers was particularly concerning because she is self-employed and has a young family to support.

‘We are running a small business - we don’t have loads of money. I am self-employed and I have a young family’, Olivia said.

‘If it gets to the point where we only have five or six dogs in per day, then I will have to look for a job.

‘I still have bills to pay. I still have to support my family’, Olivia added.

She also criticised what she described as a lack of clarity around the closure and how long it would remain in place.

‘We would have liked to have been informed a little bit better - how long it’s going to be, because we have been told three different things and nobody has come to speak to us’, she said.

The closure follows a petition organised by fellow Teigngrace resident Diane Penfold, with nearly 70 people signing in opposition to the council’s plans.

Devon County Council said it understood the disruption the closure would cause, but insisted it was the best available option.

The authority said traffic levels on the A382 were so high that even a proportion of drivers diverting through Teigngrace would create an unacceptable level of traffic in the village.