Gasworks on the barbican have had a detrimental impact on local businesses, according to Plymouth's waterfront partnership.

They claim some traders may not be able to recover from their loss of business and are in desperate need of compensation, after some traders reported losses of as much as fifty percent. Larger businesses like the National Marine Aquarium say they're facing losses of around £90,000.

Wales and west utilities - the company behind the works - do have a compensation scheme in place but traders claim they need more information about it.

The waterfront partnership is holding a meeting tonight, where there will be legal and property experts to give advice about how to claim and who is elligible.

Wales and West were invited to the meeting but they won't be attending. They say they would prefer to help businesses on an individual basis so that their specific circumstances are understood. They add their decision not to attend was made on the understanding the only contribution they could make would be to reiterate the legal requirements of the compensation scheme.