�The death knell has been sounded for two business partnerships forced to fold after being “abandoned” by the council.

Hainault and Barkingside business partnership are both no more after the council axed the contracted employees paid to help the partnerships with their day-to-day running.

Hainault partnership chairman David Johnson, manager of Lloyds Pharmacy, Manford Way, Hainault, said: “I feel like we’ve been left on our own by the council, abandoned.

“I need all the support I can get.

“Five shops on the parade are empty which has never happened before.

“Now they’re going to put pay and display parking here. It’s a disaster. It will be the death of us.”

The partnership was formed in 2006 and has since been replicated in seven other districts of the borough.

The employees contracted to each partnership assisted with organising meetings, taking minutes and co-ordinating the day-to-day running of the partnership.

Barkingside’s partnership, chaired by Eaton Hair owner Steve Eaton, is another victim of the cut to the support they are offered.

He said: “They [the council] just want to give us a manual and say, ‘here you go, run the High Street’.

“We all have jobs, we don’t have the contacts so we can’t just take up the slack.”

Mr Eaton told the Recorder traders were hoping to form an action group to keep Barkingside on the agenda.

He said: “I want something to continue because Barkingside has been totally forgotten by the council.”

Successes by the partnership include an Italian market in High Street earlier this month and in Hainault, their partnership helped put together a bumper Christmas lights switch on in Manford Way in December.

A spokesman for Redbridge Council said: “Business partnerships in the borough have now been running for such a time that they are sufficiently mature and knowledgeable not to rely upon this support in the future.”