BUSINESS owners have said Tyldesley has been left like a “ghost town” after the closure of a main road.

The Marklands building at the corner of Elliott Street and Stanley Street was evacuated on Thursday after fears that it was due to collapse.

A road closure was put in place on Elliott Street following the incident and the guided busway is unable to travel through the centre of the town either.

The local authority is hoping to reopen the road at the end of the week.

Shopkeeper of Clippers on Elliott Street, Ian Williams, said: “It is like a ghost town in Tyldesley at the moment and all businesses are suffering.

“It is concerning how slow this incident has been reacted to and the length of time it is taking to make a decision.

"I have been to nearly every shop in the centre and they are losing money from this."

The council is set to discuss the matter tomorrow, Wednesday, with scaffolding due to be put in place this week to save the building from destruction.

Owner of Arts and Flowers on Elliott Street, Lynda Hilton, added: “There is no passing trade at the moment- it is terrible.

"It is like there are tumbleweeds blowing down the street- it is unbelievable.

"There have been lots of comments about how quiet the town has been recently and this is like the final nail in coffin.

"It would be nice to be kept in the loop about what is going on.

"This is our livelihood and it just feels like we are being forgotten about.

"It has also been chaos on the back roads with drivers using them as a rat run as there is nowhere else to go.”

Residents of flats in the building have been staying in alternative accommodation.

A search for a three-foot python, which went missing from one of the flats on Sunday, June 10 is also underway.