BUSINESS owners have claimed a cannabis farm at a disused pub in Blaenavon left the town’s main shopping street closed for two days affecting their weekend trade.

The Market Tavern, Broad Street, Blaenavon caught fire on Saturday November 14 in the early after a lamp used to grow the cannabis overheated.

The decision was made by Gwent Police and Torfaen council to close the road due to public safety fears with the road not reopening until Monday.

With passing weekend trade cut off, a number of businesses on Broad Street have felt the effects of the fire and are down on their takings.

Amie Symes owns Coffi 1860 in Blaenavon and was left frustrated by the lack of communication and appropriate signs around the town.

Coffi 1860 opened two years ago in Blaenavon, and the owner believes that the road closure has left her business around £800 out of pocket.

“There was no communication and inadequate signage for the street,” said Mrs Symes.

“It is my view that the council are there to protect the public but also protect communities and on this occasion, they failed to do so.”

Market Tavern is surrounded by three separate roads – Broad Street, Cross Street and George Street – but only one road was closed in the aftermath of the fire.

“The road closure only affected the front of the building but there is an angle of 180 degrees into which the roof could have fallen into around the building,” added Mrs Symes.

“There was no structural report or anyone appropriately qualified to make the decision to say the building was unsafe at the time.”

Davies Newsagents, which is over the road from Coffi 1860, was similarly affected and first raised the alarm about the fire.

Employee Carl Waite said: “We noticed the fire in the pub at about 6.45am, well the smell first of all, and we called the fire brigade who arrived in about five minutes after.

“Saturdays are a busy time for us and we rely a lot on passing trade and there were no signs up to say that there was still pedestrian access on Broad Street.

“At the moment they have closed off the pavement so I don’t know why they couldn’t have just done that in the first place,” he added.

A Torfaen council spokesman said: "The last message we had received from the police advised a road closure.

“As the road is adjacent to the highway, an inspection was necessary, and the earliest possible date we could complete an inspection was on Monday.”

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said the decision was made by both the police and fire service but the road was re-opened on Saturday afternoon after emergency services left the scene.

"If there were any closures Saturday evening they were not put in place by police," added the spokeswoman.