Council pledges support for traders as Sheffield Moor Market re-opens after cockroach infestation all clear
Officials say cause of infestation ‘may never be known’
Sheffield’s market traders have told of the costs of the two-week closure of the main city centre market due to an infestation of German cockroaches.
Monday morning saw the doors open at The Moor Market, after officials finally gave the green light to its re-opening following a major clean up.
Sheffield Council has now outlined some of the measures it plans to take to help keep businesses afloat, after a period of closure which has seen small businesses hit in the pocket, losing two weeks earnings through what happened.
But officials say they may never know what caused the problem in the first place.
Public heath officials at the authority agreed to the market’s re-opening after specialist contractors, environmental health officers, council teams and traders carried out an extensive programme of treatment, deep cleaning and monitoring, to make sure the problem was eradicated.
Traders opening up their stalls again after the two week closure were counting the cost of no business, but were pleased to be serving again.
Michael Leighton, who runs the Waterall butchers stall, said: “It’s been a long time, two and a half weeks, but we’re finally here and back open.”
He admitted he was very surprised by the news that the market was having to close due to cockroaches.
He said: “It just came out of no where. We don’t see anything on our counter, we’re clean, and for someone to just come and say boom - it’s done - was a real shock.
“It’s difficult, because without any income, we could not afford to pay our staff. We have bills to pay. Suppliers, where we get our meat from, they need paying. When you’ve got nothing coming in, it’s really difficult.
“My message is come down, everything is safe - it’s always been safe on our stall.”
Ian Bingham runs the Bingham and Browne greengrocer. He said: “I’m just glad that it’s all over, and we want to get back.
“It’s been a terrible two weeks. We’ve had staff to pay, no income coming in, it’s been a nightmare. We’re just glad now that it’s over and done with and we want to just get back to serving customers again.”
Dave Braddock, who runs Stuart’s Fruit and Veg, said it felt great to be back trading and welcoming customers back in.
He said: “It’s good to get back and get cracking again and hopefully we will bring all the customers back and carry on.
He said he had been a difficult two weeks, adding: “Of course it has. It comes as a financial burden being closed for two weeks but these things happen and we have to move on. get over it and get it really good again.
He said he hoped things would return to normal quickly.
“We’ve got a lot of loyal customers, so hopefully we carry on where we left off - great produce at great prices.”
He said his message was ‘please come’.
“We’ve done a lot of work inside the market, to a high standard, and we’re ready to serve you with great customer service at great prices.”
Mark Rusling, the Sheffield Councillor in charge of the committee that looks after health and safety in the city was among the first visitors today, picking up a sausage and tomato butty in the market cafe.
He told The Star that the cause of the infestation may never be known, and promised that the traders whose livelihoods had been affected would be given help by the council.
Officials say there are many deliveries to the market, and many visitors, so it was hard to isolate the cause of the infestation.
The problem was discovered after a cockroach was reported to the council, which prompted tests from environmental health officers who set monitoring equipment up, which revealed a wider issue. Officials say they are pleased that they were notified quickly.
Coun Rusling, who chairs of the Environmental Services and Regulation Policy Committee at Sheffield Council, said: “We’re absolutely delighted that it is re-opened. Nobody wants to shut a market, but we’re delighted that we’re able to open it with trust in the market.
He said he was urging people to come back in to what he regards as one of the stars of the city centre.
Of the cause of the infestation, he said: “At the moment, unfortunately, we just don’t know. We might never know, so I think speculating about the cause is pretty fruitless to be honest. We’re just focussed on keeping the place open, keeping the place clean, and giving people the trust to come back in.
“We’ve got a continuing conversation with traders because we want to make sure that everyone is able to come back in to the market.
“That conversation is about support - we’ve already offered a month of free rent and service charge, and we’re continuing that conversation.
“It’s been tough, and I don’t doubt that it’s been tough, these are small businesses run by families quite often. It’s hard to close for two weeks and I don’t doubt that at all.
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“We want to make sure that everyone’s coming back and making a success of The Moor, as it was before.”
He said there had been a massive cleaning operation to get the market clear of the problem.
“Everything has been lifted up, everything has been cleaned, and as I say, a lot of that work has been done by the traders themselves in their own areas, so we’re massively thankful for that, but that has to be done. because ultimately, what we can’t have is people coming in being slightly fearful about whether it’s safer to come back in.
“I’m here, to say look, I’ve come in, I’ve eaten this morning. The Moor is safe, let’s get back in here and support the traders.”