Council to shut market as traders given three weeks to leave

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Traders are being kicked out of a town centre market - with just three weeks' notice. Stafford Borough Council has told stall-holders that Stafford Indoor Market is shutting for good on October 12.

The market is being closed as part of wider plans to regenerate Stafford town centre. But many traders had thought they had a stay-of-execution until after Christmas.

Kevin Smith has been running the Guitar and Watch Surgery on the market for 13 years.

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He said: "I’ve no idea what I am going to do. I’ve got 35 guitars here and you can’t stick them in a shed somewhere. I might just have to have a sale and get rid of them and put a notice saying make me an offer. The money thing isn’t a problem with me, it’s the ethics of what they did and the way they did it.”

Shopper Julie Malloy added: “I’ve been coming here for years and it’s such a shame. They haven’t been given much notice and the traders have got nowhere else to go now. It’s disgusting - three weeks' notice is nothing.”

Stafford indoor market
Stafford indoor market

The council says 'financial deadlines' mean the market must close by mid-October.

Council spokesman Will Conaghan said: "We have ambitious plans to transform Stafford town centre and part of this has been the well-publicised purchase and demolition of the Guildhall Shopping Centre and the derelict former Co-op building. We have been looking at any redevelopment of the Co-op to have a market offer as part of the scheme. The planning application for the demolition of a substantial part of the Guildhall, including the indoor market, was submitted a few weeks ago.

“There is internal work to be carried out so demolition can go ahead to meet financial deadlines and this requires the market to be closed by mid-October. We have looked at temporary relocation but unfortunately we have not been able to identify anything that would meet the needs for all traders.

“The chief executive and senior officers met with traders to explain the situation and that if any stallholders wished to continue trading the council’s business growth team will work with them to look for individual premises and wider support. There were also suggestions around alternative premises put forward by traders and we will be looking at whether that is feasible.”

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