City businesses say they may have to close doors amid fears of violent protests

Sheffield City Council has said the Liberal Democrat Conference will bring more than £2m into the regional economy but some companies have hit back, claiming concerns about mass anti-government protests will keep customers away.

The fears were raised in the wake of Barclays announcing it would shut its city centre branch, moving operations to another one in the city.

The bank also said it would deploy additional security staff at the branches that are open, and the safety of customers and staff “was paramount.”

Kelly Hudson owns a hairdressers on Division Street, opposite the City Hall where the conference is being held.

She said she would almost certainly have to close.

“Regulars that we have in every week they’ve cancelled already, there’ll be no walk ins, there’s probably no point us opening,” she said. “I mean they’ve spent £2m on security for three days and I can’t believe how he can justify spending that on security when the country’s in the mess that it’s in.”

Last month city leaders confidently predicted the conference will be a success amid fears the protesters could cause havoc in the city.

John Mothersole, chief executive of Sheffield City Council, described the event as “a game-changing conference for Sheffield” which “will show that we are in the premier league” of conference destinations.Mr Mothersole said that concerned businesses should look to the benefits of having thousands of extra people walking past their door this weekend.

Yuri Matischen, president of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, said: “Thousands of additional people will be coming to the city, spending money in shops, cafes and hotels. As a city we need to massively improve business and leisure tourism because we are well behind other key cities around the country. This will push Sheffield forward as a key destination in the UK and drive on the city’s plans for economic growth.”