Mixed bag of views over markets' move

Stallholders have given a mixed response to a proposal to move Wolverhampton's three markets as part of the long-term revamp of the city's shopping centre.

The plan to move the outdoor, indoor and antiques market to Dudley Street was revealed today as the council's preferred option for the future of the struggling operation.

Bosses at Wolverhampton City Council, which controls the three markets, say they will spend the next three years trying to transform its fortunes.

While some market traders strongly oppose leaving their pitches, a few say they "can't wait" to leave. However most are open to the idea of a move as long as they are given good management and sufficient car parking for customers.

Outdoor fruit and vegetable trader Julie Emery, aged 39, who is the third generation of her family to work in Market Square, said: "The point is that if we get good management and parking where we are, I'm sure everyone would make money.

"The market is my life, it's all I've ever known. Everyone needs to get together and have a good debate so that we make the right decision."

Neighbour Alan Dawkins, who runs a shoes and slippers stall, is enthusiastic about a possible move to Dudley Street. "It would be fantastic, I can't wait, because that's where the action is. There's also talk of a possible move to Queen Street which is right between the town centre and the bus station - again that would be brilliant."

The 31-year-old, who took over the business from his father, was sceptical about the latest report of a projected trading loss on the markets of almost £300,000 over the next 12 months. "We suggested that they give free car parking this Christmas to encourage people down here but they said they would lose £14,000 which is ridiculous - their own staff can park free with permits but they refuse people who will bring business to the town."

Andy Turner, 40, who runs an outdoor fruit and veg stall agreed. "When people are buying bagloads of potatoes and fruit, they don't want to get on a bus with them. It's crucial to have good car parking nearby."

Alex Hall, 53, whose son Anthony is the fifth generation to run the family plant and flower stall, said: "If it's good for business, I'll move anywhere because it's a fight to keep going when you get no support . We put signs up saying 'Support your local market' but were told to take them down. Maybe a private company would be different." It is proposed the indoor market could eventually relocate to an empty unit in Dudley Street.

Stallholder Neil Gatt, 40, whose great-grandfather started the stall in 1898, said: "It doesn't matter where we move because it's all come too late. Who comes shopping in Wolverhampton anymore? The people who run the market are puppets."

But the mood was different again at the antiques market, where traders have been told they have to move to the indoor market due to problems with disabled access. Jan MacDougall, 64, who runs a vintage clothes stall, said: "I would never be able to recreate the ambience upstairs that I do here."

Danny Lymer-Jones, 50, who runs Danny's Allsorts, agreed: "I might only be a little chap in a little shop in the basement but it all adds up to an interesting whole - it makes Wolverhampton different."

The longest established trader in the antiques market, 70-year-old tailoress Eileen Brown, who has been there 24 years, is worried that their rents will go up four or five fold. She said: "I can't afford not to work. I'm going with the general sway and just hoping that I will be able to afford the rent when we move."