TAKEAWAY owners are campaigning against shutting off Eastgate Street to traffic due to concerns the move could force many out of business.
A three-weekend trial of pedestrianising the street from 11pm until 5am was hailed a success last month and members of Gloucester's Nightsafe panel have voted to make it a permanent arrangement.
Bars and clubs enjoyed a spike in trade and police said the area was easier for them to patrol.
But kebab shop and fast-food restaurant owners along the street say their takings dipped by 20 per cent.
Ali Demerti, 29, has been running Diamond Kebabs for the last eight years.
"Stopping traffic from being able to call in to pick up food has had a big effect on our trade," he said.
"There are a lot of people in the this area seriously worried about going out of business.
"Diamond Kebab has been here for 17 years, it would be a shame not just for me but for all my customers. They are angry about it too.
"The police have said there is trouble outside takeaways, but that is not the case outside mine."
Ali says if businesses do close, any takeaway related trouble will just be moved elsewhere in the city, making it harder for police to control.
He has written a letter to the city council and police, raising his concerns.
Filit Tundel manages Forest Kebab, formerly Kebab Delight, and shares his neighbour's concerns.
"If you are going to close Eastgate Street, ten people will lose their businesses," he said.
"I have been here more than 15 years and this will have a huge effect on us.
"Our customers are worried we will have to close. People are not happy.
"We don't know who to take our concerns to, is it the city council, the county council or the police?
"If they make this decision it will be a disaster for us."
Private hire drivers have also said the trial made it harder for them to drop off and pick up customers.
City councillor Tarren Randle, who leads the evening economy action group in Gloucester, said on the whole the trial had been a popular move for most businesses.
A decision on a permanent ban on traffic at weekends will be made later this year.
