THE roar of the sandblaster and the rasp of the road drill could be heard at the Carlton Centre corner of St James Street last week.

It was all part of preparations for the imminent arrival of the 'Jim the Hiker' sculpture on the wall of Telecare Electrics, plus mural, and the replacement of paving stones.

The work was welcomed by Okehampton mayor Christine Marsh who said the statue would benefit the town — and especially traders in the St James Street area.

'The shops up there have said it would be nice to have something for people to wander up to look at because visitors go up the Arcade, come to a stop — and go back again,' she said.

'A lot of people have been knocking the enhancement but it is like your own house. You cannot keep it in a time-warp. You have to do a bit of refurbishment.'

Neil Hancock, proprietor of nearby DIY Supplies, said a mural and statue would cheer up a bland wall.

'It will look really nice at the end of the building and encourage people up St James Street,' he said.

'Any improvement to the physical appeal of Okehampton is good. They gave six months notice that this work was going to take place. It is not a detrimental thing. It is a bonus for the town,' he said.

A spokesman for Martin's Butchers in St James Street said the only problem had been deliveries, but they had told companies that to deliver they would have to reverse down or reverse out.

'We all knew this work was going to happen. It has made little difference to business. The noise has been and gone,' he said.

But Bob Newton, of Bob's Free Fit Exhaust and Tyres, said he had no warning that the end of Park Row would be closed to traffic — the first he knew of the closure was when a sign was posted up.

He said: 'I am not against them putting up the statue or doing anything to the town, but our businesses are being affected.

'Deliveries have to drive down and back out, because it's impossible to turn round.'

Mr Newton said as soon as the signs were put up warning people that Park Row would be closed, trade dropped off.

Ross Campbell, the contractor preparing the wall to receive the mural and statue of the walker, believes it will brighten up the town.

'I think as we are relying more on tourism in the area it is something people will remember as they leave the town. They will tell other people and they will come,' he said.

Mr Campbell visited the businesses that would be most affected by the disruption telling them what his workforce would be doing.

'It was noisy when we shot-blasted the wall — but if people know it is only for one day they will put up with it.'

He said he wanted to thank everyone for their understanding.

'The road is closed for six weeks. It doesn't mean the job will take six weeks. But it will leave the artists enough time. We have shot-blasted the wall to give a good key for the new paint. Next we are repairing the cracks and preparing the surface for the artists.'

The drilling by South West Highways first thing on Monday morning brought apologies from divisional manager Dave Clements because some businesses had not received advance warning.

'We normally do send letters but this was a misunderstanding,' he said.

As the road was closed for the mural SWH had taken the opportunity to do the footpath at the same time to minimise any disruption. They have replaced concrete with Plymouth gray slabs that match in with the rest of Okehampton.

'We have also put in a pram crossing with tactile slabs and there will be a stone plaque going in at a later date,' he said.