Traditional retailers are facing a crisis as they struggle against rent hikes and the economic might of big business.

The battle to dominate one of the main trading arteries linking Brighton to Hove is threatening to change the character of the area.

For nine years the Cridland family has worked tirelessly to build a successful furniture and fabric business.

Their shop, Brunswick Interiors in Western Road, Hove, has helped transform Sussex properties into some of the most elegant in the country.

But despite a loyal customer base, the business is facing one of the most difficult times in its history.

Steep rent increases combined with the effects of a rigorously-enforced parking scheme have hit the business hard.

The family has been forced to close its Western Road store and look for a more workable site for the business.

And they are not alone.

Small businesses in the Brunswick area of Western Road are increasingly feeling the sting of the property boom, with many facing the prospect of huge rent increases.

On-street parking restrictions have exacerbated the problems, with customers, unable to find spaces, opting to shop elsewhere.

For some of the traditional retailers whose presence in Western Road gives the area its character, the economic pressures are proving too much.

Closure has been the only option, paving the way for larger chain stores to move in.

Tesco has already opened two stores in Denmark Villas and Church Road, Hove, and plans a third shop at the former Michael Norman Antiques site on the corner of Palmeira Square and Western Road.

Brunswick Interiors owner Richard Cridland said his landlord proposed a rent increase from £15,000 to £26,000.

In the end a final figure of £21,000 was settled upon but even that, he said, was unfeasible. The family is now concentrating on its Horsham store, while looking for an alternative site in Brighton and Hove.

He said: "The rent got ridiculous and the parking is atrocious. We felt we had no option but to move out."

Mr Cridland's plight has a familiar ring along Western Road.

Hassan Monem, owner of Three 2 Four newsagent was hit with a rent increase of 133 per cent.

He said: "My landlord lives in London. I was due for a rent review two years ago but it never happened. Then I received a letter about ten months ago saying the rent was going up from £12,000 to £28,000.

"He also asked for the rent to be backdated two years, so I owed him another £15,000, which I paid in three lots of £5,000.

"It is having a huge effect on my business. We are struggling to survive but all we can do is accept what has happened. It has been a very difficult year.

"I may have to close. It is simply not worth all the stress and worry. I have a family to support."

Florian Florists owner Sandy Cropper, who has run her shop in Western Road for 17 years, is expecting a rent review next year.

She said: "The property has recently been sold, so we are very worried. Eventually, the only people who will be able to move in here will be estate agents and letting agents.

"I have never known rents to increase as much as they are at the moment.

"The independent shops give the area its character but it seems they will end up being pushed out of the main streets."

Independent bookshop Practical Books and grocers David Rhodes have also closed.

Trevor Freeman, chairman of the Brighton and Hove branch of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the future for the area's traders looked bleak unless something was done.

He said: "Small businesses across the city are experiencing problems but the situation in Western Road is particularly bad. There is no doubt the new Tesco store will have an effect on independent traders in the Brunswick area.

"Supermarkets can afford to sell cut-price goods and the smaller, independent firms just cannot afford to undercut them."

The property boom has seen a huge increase in the number of people who own two houses.

But while the buy-to-let market has never been better, small businesses are often pushed out of their premises by landlords who can get a better deals by changing them into flats to let.

Brighton and Hove City Council insists its planners take a tough stance when deciding whether or not shops should be given permission to become flats or houses.

A spokeswoman said: "Planning consent for change of use from commercial to residential is only given if it can be proved the original use is no longer viable."

Monday October 20, 2003