"OUR town is facing a disaster – where are our councillors?"
These are the words of Cleethorpes Oddball's Crazy Golf owner, Terry Procter, whose business is still buried by sand, six days after Cleethorpes was hit by a sandstorm.
His outrage comes after revealing to the Telegraph that he plans to open a £300,000 roundhouse restaurant at the site.
He said: "Why should I invest in the resort when no one is there when we need them?
"If I don't get more support I am thinking of clearing off."
While most of the sand has been cleared from the promenade – which North East Lincolnshire Council hoped would reopen to the public today – his golf course remains covered.
As the 45mph winds persist, Mr Procter has spent thousands of pounds in a desperate attempt to clear it before Easter bank holiday.
He said: "All I have is a wheelbarrow and a shovel. We are facing a disaster and where are our politicians to help us? They are nowhere to be seen.
"I bet if this had happened on Councillor Chris Shaw's railway, they would all be down there clearing it."
But Councillor Shaw, the leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said it was up to individual businesses to clear the sand.
"Why should we supply equipment for businesses?" he said. "Do they give us a share of their profits every year? Having a business means doing what you have to do to make money.
"I feel bad the businesses have to do extra work – I run a business and I'm up against it too.
"The council is doing all it can to clear it but we cannot control the weather."
Sand is often blown off the beach, but the high winds have caused sandstorms along the prom.
Businesses believe it is because the beach was not "flattened" along the seawall, a procedure which takes place routinely at the end of each winter.
According to Mr Shaw this normally takes place in April. "Just because Easter is early this year doesn't mean we act accordingly," he added.
It is understood that other businesses believe the "blame" lies in the removal of a metre-high white wall that once ran along the prom, acting as a barrier between it and the beach. It was demolished when the promenade was regenerated in the 1990s.
Councillor Matt Brown (Lab, Croft Baker) said: "Long term, we need to be looking at bringing the wall back and look into the reasons it was taken away, but being realistic, the council does not have the money.
"This has been waiting to happen since the wall was taken down but NELC has its hands tied by central government."
NELC'S head of development, Jason Longhurst, said work is ongoing to re-open the prom.
