Skipton’s Brewery Lane is to close again just six months after it reopened.

The road, which links Brook Street to Broughton Road, had been closed to cars and pedestrians for three years.

The new closure, to allow the building of a footpath along Brewery Lane and for work to continue on the redevelopment of Belle Vue Mills, is expected to take place from Monday June 28 and could last until January 2012.

Chris Craven, area manager for North Yorkshire Highways, said the closure would be for a year and better communication with residents had been promised.

“We’ve seen the developers’ programme of work and we have asked them to keep everyone informed as to what they are doing,” he said. “We want them to keep everyone informed so there is goodwill on both sides and because of what happened before.”

The closure is to allow the building of a footpath along the town centre side of Brewery Lane. There will also be a zebra crossing on Broughton Road and a hump on Brook Street to slow traffic about to go over the canal bridge.

But Barry Peters, owner of Blue Water Holidays in Brook Street, is already furious at the lack of consultation.

“This sneaky way of announcing a closure which would lead to more traffic on the already congested Water Street and High Street is a total disgrace,” he said.

Mr Peters, whose company employs 25 people, added: “The reopening of the road after its previous long closure has been a help to many people, not to mention the savings of around 20 minutes of time and the environmental benefits for every trip to the Broughton Road area.”

An alternative route will be advertised as part of the official road closure order.

“It is hardly a suitable alternative to go via the congested town centre,” said Mr Peters. “I accept that a closure is needed for a short time to improve Brewery Lane and install a footpath, but after the previous long closure I see no reason why the new developers cannot organise their building work so that Brewery Lane normally stays open.

“Above all, I am disgusted that the planners allowed this development to go ahead without any planning gain for Skipton. All we have had, and are getting again, is road congestion and huge losses of time and money for local people and businesses going about their daily life.”

County and district councillor Polly English said she could not understand why the closure had to be for so long and why Brewery Lane could not close for short periods while work was actually taking place.

And she pointed out that, just a week after the expected closure, the town would be staging Sheep Day, when the High Street would be closed for the day.

Although it is expected the work will take a year, the closure notice means the road could be closed until January 27 2012.

“Last time it was closed, it was nine months before any work actually started,” said Coun English. “It should only be closed when they are working on site.”

Coun English said she would want to know if work did not start immediately following the closure of the road. “We’ve been made to look fools once and it won’t happen again,” she said.

Craven District Council is within days of signing a new contract with Rushbond, which is expected to take over the re-development of the Belle Vue Mills complex.