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Already hard-hit Castle Street traders were yesterday dealt “another kick in the teeth” after learning of their eviction following the Primark fire.

Some of the small, family-owned businesses and charities in the street’s Norwich Union House have been there for decades.

Now they are facing further turmoil in the mouth of Christmas, because a McAleer and Rushe linked firm wants them out to redevelop the site.

Those businesses and charities include Cafe West, Fruiterama, Conway Opticians, Pizza Boutique, Oxfam and The British Heart Foundation, which has been closed behind the cordon since the August blaze.

Cafe West’s Chris Scott said: “This is just another kick in the teeth for us.

“I have one shop closed on Fountain Street after the Primark fire and this one is down 60%.

“We knew the building was coming down but it’s coming a lot sooner than we anticipated. I am pretty disgusted."

“Some of the traders didn’t even know,” added Chris, who co-owns the popular cafe.

“McAleer and Rushe phoned me yesterday saying they would confirm by email.”

Chris said he hasn’t got email confirmation of their eviction yet, but he’s been told they have until the end of February to get out.

“It’s been a very difficult few months,” he added.

A spokesperson said the firm that actually owns Norwich Union House is called ES NUH LIMITED.

But the two firms share a number of directors, and McAleer and Rushe is also listed by Invest NI as promoters of £54m project plans for Norwich Union House.

Optician Michael Connor operates from a shop just a few doors down from Cafe West, and said he too was told by phone he would have to leave by February.

“It’s just one thing after another,” he added.

“It puts us under a little bit of pressure with Christmas because you are ruling out two weeks there.

“We have been here 25 years. It was initially the Conway family and I took over in 2008.

“Our priority is our clients, of which we have 21,000.

“I just have to get on with it. It’s the same with this whole Primark thing, we still don’t know when Castle Street is going to be opened.”

Oxfam said they haven’t received any notification they are being evicted.

An spokesman for ES NUH - a property company associated with McAleer & Rushe - said tenants will have to be out between February and September.

They added: “We recognise the challenging environment faced by all businesses in Belfast city centre.

“As a commercial consequence of the Primark fire we have had to accelerate our long standing plans, which we had previously communicated with tenants, to develop the Norwich Union Building.

“We understand the impact this will have on existing tenants and we are engaging directly with them to discuss how we can support the relocation of their business.”

Further along Castle Street stands Westgate House, which is owned by a different firm.

While they are not connected to the Norwich Union building, a public consultation on future plans for their site was launched earlier this year.

And this latest news has made them nervous.

“I am slightly worried,” said Shop Mobility director Julie Guilar.

“If they knock that down, with the way the whole of Castle Street is at the minute, it’s obviously going to affect people at the top of the street as well.”

Timescape MD Justin Milligan’s premises sits in the middle of the Castle Street block, between Norwich Union and Westgate House.

He said: “I just think the whole street is in limbo - nobody knows what the future is or what’s going on.

“It seems like all the long standing traders are going to be sold out.

“I would just like somebody to come forward and look everybody in the eye and just tell us the truth.”

His neighbour, Sink the Ink owner Darren Livingstone, said he is in limbo while his landlord decides what to do with the building they are housed in.

“We don’t know what’s happening between the Norwich Union building and here,” he added.

“We are part of it anyway, and if they start knocking it down we will be affected - with like walls shaking and stuff.

“I have been here five years, have established a business, and I want it here for a lifetime.”

Osbourne King, which manages Westgate House, did not respond to our request for a comment.

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