Slow start to new car boot sale

Car boot sales at the Merry Hill shopping complex have been hampered by red tape with restrictions on the number of cars allowed to trade, it has been revealed.

Only 30 sellers turned up yesterday at the first boot sale, which organisers Westfield admitted was disappointing.

Conditions of the licence meant that the maximum number of cars allowed on site was restricted to 50. Organisers said it meant they could not advertise the sale as much as they would have liked in case too many cars turned up.

Even though the car park outside Debenhams can hold at least 100 cars, Dudley Council insisted the sale was restricted to just 50. Many rival boots sales at Wassell Grove near Hagley are at least 10 times as big, according to regular traders.

Organisers claim the low-key advertising meant only around 10 cars were waiting to start at around 6am. Sue Hollington, aged 43, from Bramford Estate, Coseley said: "We were one of the first here at 5.50am. There wasn't many people here then but it started to pick up a bit later."

Anita Jones, aged 53, from Blackheath, said: "It was a bit slow to start. It picked up at around 9am. I think it will do better when people get to hear about it."

Westfield spokesman Katy Reed said: "The numbers are a bit disappointing but we hope to increase the amount of cars allowed on here to around 100."