Major Market Harborough repair project 'to end early'
Water mains repair work that has disrupted a Leicestershire town will finish a week early, a Severn Trent spokesman said.
Market Harborough's High Street has been closed for four weeks because of the £1m pipe renewal project.
Severn Trent area manager Paul Wallis said work was ahead of schedule so the road should reopen by the August Bank Holiday.
Traders in the town said business had been badly hit by the closure.
Malcolm Lever-Jones from Harborough Independent Retailer's Association said: "The footfall throughout the town has been affected with roughly a 20% to 25% decrease on car parking - and car parking is people."
Severn Trent area manager Paul Wallis said businesses can apply for compensation for lost trade.
"The work is to renew the trunk water supply - it is over 70 years old and it's the first time the pipe has been renewed," he said.