THE director of a local theatre school has hit out after a council event means the biggest event in her calendar could be marred by road closures.

Emma Morris, 31, said her Summer Showcase at the Borough Theatre this Saturday clashes with the Freedom of Monmouthshire parade, with the latter scheduled to finish outside the theatre as Emma’s event begins.

Mrs Morris, who runs Mayzmusik Performing Arts Academy, is expecting more than 300 ticket holders, and performers to arrive in Abergavenny and the theatre just as widespread road closures cordon off swathes of the town.

Abergavenny is to host the Reaffirmation of the Freedom of Monmouthshire Parade which will see 70 soldiers from the Royal Welsh regiment complete with band and regimental goat, marching through Abergavenny this Saturday.

The parade, which will include representatives of the Old Comrades, Army Cadets and the Royal British Legion, will make its way through the centre of town, with High Street, Castle Street, Tudor Street, Baker Street, Frogmore Street, Lion Street, Market Street all being closed off.

Access to car parks will also be affected from 9am to 12:30pm, when Mrs Morris’ event is due to start.

For the performing arts school it is a step too far as it has already been forced to move its event from its originally planned date of last weekend as a result of the Velothon.

“As a business, we have to accommodate these things and we are all for supporting things which happen in the town but I was furious this morning to see about these street closures when I realised I had already moved a show and cancelled another, thanks to the Velothon.

“We will have students arriving from about 11.45, who will have to get to the theatre. With all the streets shut off, it’s going to be a problem.

“We have over 200 tickets sold, another 126 students, plus 20 staff. We are looking at a minimum of 350 people who are getting slightly stressed about this!”

“My main issue is that the Velothon was so organised this year. We were told six months in advance, so we could work around it. We didn’t find out about this event until Tuesday – four days before the it was happening!”

A statement from Abergavenny Town Council said that it realised the parade would cause some ‘unavoidable disruption’ to traffic, parking, loading and unloading between 9.00am and 12.30pm in Cross Street.

“Parking will be prohibited whilst the Urban Clearway signs are in place and there will be marshals directing traffic For a brief period High Street, Castle Street, Tudor Street, Baker Street, Frogmore Street, Lion Street, Market Street, adjoining side streets and vehicle access to car parks will also be affected.

“Every effort is being made to keep inconvenience to a minimum,” said a council spokesman