TRADERS in Saltash are furious that national legislation looks as if it will completely rob them of a business rate reduction – offered to them because of the on-going works on the Tamar Bridge, which have brought constant traffic chaos to the town.

For the past four months the chairman of Saltash chamber of commerce and industry, Bob Frost, has been in negotiations with an Inland Revenue valuation officer over the loss of business Saltash traders have been suffering.

Mr Frost said a 15% cut was agreed - but it was when paperwork went through to Caradon council that a hitch was noted.

The district council explained that because of transitional relief any decrease would be limited to only 5% per year, and this has already been taken up because business rates were lower this financial year than in the previous one. The net result is, therefore, that no reduction will be given in business rates to Saltash firms.

Mr Frost said the Federation of Small Businesses was currently talking to tax advisors about the situation, but he said the matter highlights the desperate need for the government to change the current legislation.

He said that he does not blame Caradon council for the situation, because they are only acting under the law as it is, and are 'between a rock and a hard place'. Nevertheless he emphasised the dire situation facing Saltash businesses, who also face further disruption in the future, due to repair works on the Saltash tunnel being set to begin next October.

Mr Frost, of Prestige Electronics Services in Saltash which specialises in repairing products from such global firms as Toshiba and Sony, said he now has to send staff to areas such as South Wales to work.

This is because firms have said their lorries will not travel into Cornwall, through the bridge traffic, any more. He emphasised that this adds to travelling time, takes more fuel, and has led to the need to finance higher salaries, and pay for hire cars.

Mr Frost said he fears that the widening and strengthening work on the bridge will fall even further behind, and that resulting congestion will still be going on past the current finish date of February next year. If this occurs then next year's summer season will soon be upon the town.

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He said that if a large steel works closes then the government sends in advisors and financial help in order to counteract the effects caused by the closure. However, no notice is taken of businesses, like those in Saltash, who are suffering - because they are small. Nevertheless their cumulative effect can be as severe as the closure of a large steel works, and as a result they should be given equal treatment by the government.

Cedric Sutton, benefits and local taxation manager for Caradon, also said the only way to alter the situation is to change the legislation nationally. He explained that a government review on business rates paid by firms in Saltash was carried out early last year. Due to this many properties had gone down in value, leading to lower business rates from 1 April 2000, and there can only be a 5% reduction in the first transitional year.