'˜Stand with me and fight': buffet owner calls for colleagues to join rail strike compensation quest
Carol Ritchie, 57, has so far received 1,000 signatures on her petition to get a refund on her rent from Southern operators Govia Thameslink Railway after the rail strikes almost closed her business last year.
The owner of Ritchie’s Buffet in Angmering railway station said that her colleagues across the area have also suffered – and is asking them to join her.
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Hide AdShe said: “They have to fight like me and stand up for their rights.
“Why risk losing your lovely livelihood that you’ve put your time and effort into to get your private life?
“I live for my buffet; everthing else fits around it. That is my life; I love it. End of.”
The idea of a campaign was started by town and district councillor Dan Purchese, who is a regular customer of Ritchie’s Buffet.
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Hide AdHe said it was ‘all about fairness’, as customers are able to get a refund on their train tickets. To sign her petition, click here.
The councillor added: “We have a thousand signatures; we want even more.
“We are going to make Southern Rail and Govia sit up and take notice.
“We will support local businesses throughout the area, and we want them to join forces with us.”
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Hide AdWhen she has collected enough signatures, Carol will be taking her petition to Downing Street, and is hoping other business owners can join her.
Carol has also released figures of her earnings on strike days last year versus the same day in 2015.
On Friday, December 16, Carol earnt £8.60 – a shocking 97 per cent less than the £270.15 she earnt a year before.
It was a similar story on December 13, with her takings 96 per cent down on the previous year.
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Hide AdShe has used ten years’ worth of savings to keep her business afloat, and a community fund set up by estate agent Shaun Adams has stopped Carol losing her house.
Arundel and South Downs MP Nick Herbert also backed the cause.
A spokesman for Southern Rail said its managing agents would ‘confirm details of a rebate shortly’.
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