THE shutters came down on the Corner Shop in Crossgates for the final time on Sunday after roadworks and the coronavirus diminished footfall.

Robert Kirkwood left the shop 15 minutes before its 2pm closure at the weekend as he couldn't bare to watch his "baby" close for good.

He opened the Premier Stores business in November 2015 and, from scratch, it became a heartbeat in the community.

He spoke to the Times at the start of March about his concern that roadworks in the village could mark the end for his Main Street shop.

His fears have now been realised as he made the difficult decision to, "bite the bullet and shut the shop".

Robert, 55, told the Times: "I've had four and a half great years here.

"Customers had always been kind enough to park opposite the shop and nearby but the roadworks stopped all that.

"I was subsiding the Crossgates store with money from my Mossgreen shop, but I've now had to simply cut my losses".

He added: "It's horrible that I've had to close.

"That was my baby. I opened it in November 2015 and I was welcomed by the community's heart from the start.

"I've made so many good friends and created a lot of good memories.

"I left the shop on Sunday before the shutters came down as it was all a bit too much. I didn't want to be there for that."

The roadworks in the village started on Monday, March 2 at the Main Street, Dunfermline Road and Inverkeithing Road junctions.

The congestion and lengthy queues in place mean that cars are unable to park at the side of the roads in the area to pop in to the shops.

Coupled with the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent Government restrictions, Mr Kirkwood's footfall sustained a huge drop.

"I was taking money from Mossgreen to try and keep it afloat," he said.

"It was making me unwell and I couldn't keep that going."

The works are being carried out by GTC Pipelines Limited to accommodate the new Ogilvie Homes housing development on Dunfermline Road.

Mr Kirkwood has no animosity towards GTC, who offered to arrange a meeting to help him as much as possible.

He said: "I can't say a bad word about them.

"Roadworks have to happen at some point and, at the end of the day, they're helping to bring more people to the community.

"That can only be a good thing."

 

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper every week.

Trusted news has never been so important, and neither has your support.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you to help us provide you with trusted news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

We’re out each week even if you can’t be and so you can also have a replica e-edition of the Times on your PC, phone or tablet ready to read whenever you want. Just click the ‘E-Edition’ tab under the Times masthead on the homepage of this website.

Thank you,

Simon Harris, Fife Group Editor