A plan to ban cars and lorries from roads in the heart of Bath has been given a lukewarm welcome by businesses.
Bath and North East Somerset Council is planning to ban vehicles from Lower Borough Walls, Stall Street, Bath Street, Beau Street, Abbeygate Street and Abbey Green between 10am and 6pm all week.
At the moment the restriction only applies on a Saturday.
The new scheme, due to come into effect later this year, is phase one of the Bath Transportation Package and aims to make the city's shopping area safer.
Phase two, not due until next year, will see Saw Close, Westgate Street, Cheap Street, Parsonage Lane and Upper Borough Walls free from traffic during the day.
Tim Rathmell, of At Sixes and Sevens on Abbey Green, said: "Deliveries don't come at set times they come when they can and they are not going to walk with a delivery.
"I think the council has missed that the whole of retail has changed. You have big out of town where you pay nothing for parking, the internet is having an effect, all they are doing with this is making it more and more difficult for us businesses - they will kill us."
Paul Mattingly, Bath Retro Store also on Abbey Green, said: "We are happy about the pedestrianisation but these changes will make it difficult for access. It doesn't seem very well thought out. We're all struggling here at the moment and this is just something else."
Stephen Phillips, who runs The Card on Beau Street, said he supported the pedestrianisation of Bath during the day but had concerns.
He added: "We are in difficult economic times at the moment and the number of people coming into Bath isn't as many as usual. This is the wrong time to be making changes like this."
The business owners also expressed concern that the council did not have a clear overall plan of how to handle traffic in Bath, a concern shared by residents.
Ian Perkins, chairman of the Abbey Residents Association, said: "We are concerned that there isn't an overall traffic plan and the council are not sure what they are trying to achieve.
"Pedestrianisation can have a negative impact with streets becoming too big. It has to be well thought through as part of a bigger plan for the management of the city centre."
A spokesman for the council said a similar scheme in Oxford had increased footfall by eight per cent.
He said: "Creating a city centre environment where people on foot and on bikes have priority, and public transport is free to move is one of the council's key aims. This will make the city a more pleasant place, encouraging more people into the city and supporting businesses to grow."
He added businesses could still accept deliveries during the day by using the council's Freight Consolidation Service which uses a small, electric vehicle that delivers goods from a warehouse close to the city.
The council has said it is keeping an open mind on adjusting the hours of the restictions and is encouraging businesses to get in touch.
