Traders claim they will lose thousands of pounds in revenue when a water firm cuts off their supply for a day.

About 30 businesses in Longridge Avenue, Saltdean, will have their water cut off from 9am to 3pm tomorrow for routine maintenance.

Company bosses only found out their supplies would be disrupted when Southern Water posted cards through their doors on Friday afternoon.

Managers and bosses at the firms, which include a laundrette, a hairdressers and a dog grooming salon, say they were not given enough notice and are set to lose thousands in cancelled bookings.

Stella Newman, of The Hair Company, said: “We won’t be able to see to our clients.

“What we’re annoyed about is that we weren’t even told. We only knew because people from businesses up the road came and told us on Friday evening.

“If we had a week’s notice we could have shuffled things around. But we got no notice at all. It’s disgusting. How are people meant to run a business when they’re doing this sort of thing?

“Southern Water said it’s in our interest but it’s not in my interest to shut the business down for the day.

“I understand the work has to be done but if I had notice we could have moved things about.”

Southern Water apologised for the disruption but said it hoped to complete the maintenance quicker than planned.

However John Hanson, of Dapper Dogs pet salon, said the water company should compensate businesses.

He said: “We’re a dog grooming salon and we’re going to have to cancel around ten bookings with nothing as much as a penny back from Southern Water in compensation.

“They’re doing other work from 10pm to 6am in another residential road in Saltdean on the same night. It would make more sense to do the residential road in the day time and the businesses at night.

“Southern Water ha chosen to close down 30 shops, costing tens of thousands of pounds of lost income, unpaid wages and income tax to avoid paying a little overtime as they regularly work nights.

“We had two days notice yet they have known for many weeks.”

A spokesman from Southern Water said: "Water supplies for some customers in Saltdean will be temporarily disrupted on Tuesday.

“We need to shut the water off in order to fix a leaking water main in Saltdean Vale.

“The job has been scheduled for 9am. We have allowed six hours to complete the repair but hope to have it fixed sooner.

“We understand this may cause some disruption to people living and working in the area and apologise in advance for any inconvenience.”