TRADERS along a busy York shopping street are preparing for traffic mayhem this weekend during major roadworks.

City of York Council is warning drivers to stay away from Gillygate while part of the street is dug up for emergency repair work.

There are expected to be lengthy traffic delays while vital work to repair a damaged drain is carried out.

The news comes after last weekend's shopping frenzy, which saw coach-loads of visitors packing into the city.

Gillygate traders today reacted gloomily to the news, saying it would affect their trade in the busy run-up to Christmas.

Mark Andrade, owner of Ark Records in the street, said the news was a further "nail in the coffin" for Gillygate.

"It's bad news the harder it is for people to get into town when they want to," he said.

Angus McArthur, owner of Snow Home - a homeware shop in Gillygate - said the roadworks would almost certainly affect his business.

"Traffic is bad enough down Gillygate at the best of times," he said.

"I do acknowledge the work is urgent - but it's a shame that it's going to happen on one of our best Sundays for trade before Christmas.

"It's going to put some people off shopping down here."

Sally Stone, owner of Off The Wall restaurant, agreed.

"I think we'll lose some of our passing trade over this," she said.

Stuart Partington, the council's highways and street operations engineer, acknowledged the roadworks were being undertaken at a bad time.

"The last thing we want to do during the busy run up to Christmas is have major roadworks on such a vital city centre road," he said.

"Unfortunately there is potential for raw sewerage to cause a public health problem and we simply cannot leave the work.

"We will try to ensure that everything is done as quickly as possible and that the disruption is kept to an absolute minimum."

The repair work will be carried out after 7pm on Saturday and throughout Sunday.

There will be no formal diversion, but drivers are strongly advised to avoid the area.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, December 01, 2004