Plea to pedestrianise Friar Street to help cost of living

The pleas come in light of the recent closures of popular Friar Street attractions G&Tea and Tortugas, which both announced they would be shutting their doors within days of one another. 

Pear Tree Bar has since reopened in the former Tortugas restaurant.

Suggestions on how to revive the historic street, dubbed 'the prettiest in Worcester' by proud shop owners, include pedestrianising the road and encouraging a greater variety of traditional and unique trades to take up residence there.

Worcester City Council's new leader Cllr Lynn Denham backed the idea, however, the county's new highways chief Cllr Marc Bayliss said at this point there were no plan' to introduce this measure. 

Cllr Bayliss added: “The multi-storey car park leads onto Friar Street and there is a whole host of other businesses and people living nearby that don’t have access from any other road, so we couldn't do this without careful consideration."

Nigel Pritchett, who owns Pritchetts Antiques and Rarities, told the Worcester News having a market created by and for the businesses of Friar Street would be a great way of increasing footfall.

But he said Worcester City Council would need to support the firms both financially and through promotional support.  

He added: "It's difficult for us as when popular restaurants and cafes are closing on our street it impacts us."

TickTok owner Peter Schonert said considering the amount of history on the street, he was frustrated by the lack of council support in promoting it. 

Mr Schonert, who specialises in watch and clock repairs and servicing, added there were too many similar businesses popping up in Worcester and felt a greater array of traditional trades should be encouraged to open.

"I know of a few independent businesses nearby that will probably close in the next year, and somewhere as popular as G&Tea couldn't afford their rent.

"We need to go back to the roots of business to solve this issue."

Steve Strain, who runs Faithful City Walks, said Worcester's rich heritage was relatively under promoted outside the confines of the city.

"So many people overlook Worcester, we have a much more diverse array of attractions than even a tourism haven like Stratford-Upon-Avon and yet not enough people know about it."

Cllr Denham said the market would be a 'really lovely idea' and pledged to do all she could to support and shout louder about business and heritage in Worcester.