A gym who have been forced to close since a building collapsed in North Belfast last week says they feel they have been "left in limbo" waiting for the road to reopen.
On Thursday, a building collapsed on the corner of the Antrim Road and Limestone Road with parts of the road still currently being closed off to motorists.
Kevin Johnston is the co-owner Cryo Fitness Hub and was just a few doors down from the collapsed building when the incident took place.
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He told Belfast Live that he believes his gym could be shut for a total of two weeks due to the road closure, leaving both clients and staff unable to access their services.
Kevin said: "I was in the Hub when it happened and I heard this loud thud and a rumble, almost like thunder and went outside - there weren't too many people about thankfully.
"The store right next door had two members of staff and two customers in the store at the time but thankfully it was at the time of day it was as an hour later there would have been hundreds of school kids about."
Cryo Fitness Hub closed its doors on March 24 after the collapse occurred and are unsure when they will be able to be fully operational again.
"We have been closed since and have taken the decision to close to at least the end of the week simply because we don't know what is going on.
"Even the traders on down the road have seen a big drop off in trade because the road is closed and people aren't coming to the area.
"We were told that there would be work done on Saturday morning to secure the site and put supports in to make the end building safe and then demolition work this week.
"It wasn't until this morning that I saw any kind of contractors on-site to do any work - that was a full five days," he explained.
After a difficult two years of navigating their business during the pandemic, the disruption to their business has been another devasting blow.
He added: "The road remains closed and it's a main arterial route so the buses and everything have had to have diversions to their services.
"I feel that it will be at least two weeks as the work seems to be very slow so far."
Kevin has been in contact with one local councillor since the collapse on Thursday but said that communication on the issue has him and other traders in the area feeling they have been 'left in the dark'.
"For the guys that work here it's a loss of income and for the business but we also have physio and sports therapists here who are trying to build up their own businesses so they aren't able to work," Kevin continued:
"Our ethos is more about the mental health and again with our members and I would say that 90 per cent of our members would have had no experience of gyms before they came here and wouldn't feel comfortable going into the likes of commercial gyms.
"We are going to freeze their memberships while we are closed so they don't lose out but will also put on a few free classes in the park to keep that social aspect there for our members when we are closed."
He added: "It seems crazy that things have been left this long, especially because it is on such a busy road and every day we are left in limbo."
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