THE tram link between Cleveleys and Fleetwood will be restored on July 26.

And business people in both towns have hailed the news as a tonic for trade in the area.

Work on the new supertram meant services stopped during the winter.

Trams between the towns should have been running in April, in common with the rest of the network, but the theft of £135,000 of overhead cable in the area put paid to that hope.

But this week Blackpool Transport workers were making the overhead cables "live" in preparation for a return of service.

Work on tram tracks in Fleetwood town centre means trams will only be able to get to Fisherman's Walk at the bottom of Lord Street, but the news has still been welcomed.

Vice-chairman of Fleetwood Chamber of Trade Derek Eaton, said: "It has to be welcomed.

"It is going to help because people are getting off the tram at Cleveleys and not transferring to buses to come to Fleetwood.

"The amount of people I see waiting in the queue at Cleveleys for a tram back to Blackpool is incredible.

"They must be spending their money in Cleveleys "The trams returning has to be good news: it couldn't get any worse."

And chairman of Cleveleys Traders' Association Martin Hunns added: "It's good, especially for Fleetwood where businesses have been struggling because they have had the roadway up because of the tram track works.

"Hopefully trade will boost back up in Fleetwood once people know the trams are going up there – it will be brilliant for everybody.

"Business is bad enough in the current climate. Now we need some good weather when the kids are off school."

Dave Hislop, engineering director at Blackpool Transport, said: "We were hoping to have the work finished by July 19 so we would be back in service.

Unfortunately we have hit problems.

"It's an engineering issue with damage that has been caused when the cables were stolen."

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