Crossrail 'could kill off small firms that are heart of Soho'

Years of building work in central London for Crossrail risk killing off family-run shops, business leaders and politicians warned today.

The Federation of Small Businesses and Westminster council urged project chiefs to do more to ensure small traders in Soho - who face rent and business rate increases or even being forced to sell their premises - will survive the
upheaval.

Shop owners in and around Dean Street say the area is among the worst hit by compulsory purchase orders imposed to make way for the
£16 billion line.

Landlady Angelina Esposito, a pensioner, said she had to sell her two joined properties, on the corner of Dean Street and Diadem Court, to Crossrail for up to £1.2 million less than the £2.7 million she claimed they were worth.

Others claim to be losing hundreds of pounds a day in trade because customers cannot get past the protective hoardings erected outside their businesses. The federation's Andrew Cave said project leaders "need to make a commitment to offering businesses the market rate for their properties".

Crossrail said it always seeks to reach "fair agreements" and is "sensitive" to the plight of
small firms.

The project, due for completion in 2017, will cut 73 miles west to east through London from Maidenhead in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex and from Heathrow to Abbey Wood.

Angela Harvey, chairman of Westminster's built environment policy and scrutiny committee, has invited the Crossrail chairman, Terry Morgan, to tour the site so he can see the problems first-hand.