BUSINESSES across Bolton could have lost up to £3 MILLION as shoppers stayed at home for fear of becoming embroiled in the massive EDL demonstration on Saturday.

Many stores rolled the shutters down for the day, or boarded up their windows, in fear of EDL and UAF demonstrators causing damage.

But for those businesses that remained open, takings dropped through the floor. Most shops say they lost around 80 to 90 per cent of their takings on what should have been the busiest day of the week.

According to economic chiefs at Bolton Council, town centre businesses drive the local economy to the tune of around £500 million a year and the majority of that income would be generated on Saturdays.

Normally thousands of shoppers descend on the town centre every weekend but because of fears of violence most stayed away.

If the £500 million annual figure is broken down into 50 weeks, then every week about £10 million or so is spent in large and small businesses around the town — and it’s estimated that up to half of that figure would be spent on a Saturday.

Businesses suffered catastrophic drops in takings, even those on the outskirts of town, with some major town centre stores taking under £100 and one jeweller, who stayed open until mid-afternoon, served just one customer, instead of the normal 200.

Smaller businesses like the Town Centre Cafe in Deansgate stayed open but instead of the usual 500 to 600 people coming through the doors, staff served just 30 customers.

Owner Adam Simsek said: “Once I had paid the staff, I made a loss.”

Next door Alice’s chippy stayed open until 4am on Sunday morning, but owners Denis McCabe and WilliamBones reckon their takings were down 80 to 90 per cent from the normal average of around £2,000.

Across town, the normally thriving Olympus Fish and Chip restaurant and takeaway did not open on police and council advice.

Owner Tasos Pattichis said he lost around £5,000 in takings on what would have been his busiest day of the week.

Dr Brian Sloan, head of business and economic policy at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “We estimate that, for businesses based within the greater Bolton town centre, the cost of closing their doors for one day would have been close to £3 million.

“It’s also possible that some of the losses could be permanent, as people who shopped in other towns decided they liked it more than in Bolton.”