Two stalls in Stafford Market – including one that has been a fixture for more than 30 years – are closing down amid fears that more traders will quit.

Eclaire’s Cupcakes closed this week and the adjacent greeting cards stall – trading for 34 years – is to follow on Saturday.

Owners of one of the market’s pet stalls are also seriously considering their future.

Traders have blamed the situation on rent increases and a lack of council support.

But bosses at Stafford Borough Council insist they are doing all they can do help local independent businesses – including cutting rents for some pitches last year.

Claire Stokes, who started the cupcake stall last August, said further action was needed to stop a mass exodus of traders.

She said: “Business has been so slow that this week I finally had to accept that I can’t afford to go on and have had no choice but to sign on as unemployed.

“And unfortunately I’m not going to be the first. If the council wants us out they should state this openly and stop waiting for us all to go bankrupt.

“And if, after 157 years of history, Stafford residents still want to live in a market town they also have to start to support us.”

Council spokeswoman Wyn Matthews responded: “We know the retail environment is still very difficult at the moment and we are doing our best to support small independent traders. We made no increase to market stallholders’ rents this year.

“We carried out a comprehensive review of rents last year and, as a result, a third of the market traders saw a reduction in their rent.

“We promote the market extensively in various ways, including advertising on the Town Centre Partnership website, local newspapers and on buses. We also advertise in the trade Press to attract new traders.

“The council is committed to improving the quality of the market, spending £192,000 on refurbishment work between 2005 and 2009.

“We have made considerable investment over the last few years to keep the building looking fresh and improving facilities such as the toilets.”