Traders fury at Fargate market 'no'

Stallholders have been promised a new home - and wanted to move to the prime shopping street due to the number of passers-by.

The site was the latest of a number considered by the council. Others have included outside Sheffield Cathedral, which was rejected by the traders because the area is too quiet.

Sheffield Council carried out consultation with shops on Fargate about the possibility of moving the Moor Market to the street - which is already used for occasional continental markets and public events.

But leader Coun Jan Wilson told a meeting of the authority's cabinet that the proposal was "unacceptable", after retailers returned an "overwhelmingly negative" response.

George Glover, head of the Moor Market Trader's Federation, slammed the decision and claimed the consultation process had been a "sham".

He said: "They have painted a very, very bad picture of what retailers are likely to expect, and therefore they have got the result that they want."

Mr Glover said this included leading retailers to believe that the permanent market - which would operate on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays - would be similar to the continental market, with stalls crammed up to shop doorways and packed in along the whole street.

He said: "They did not realise what was going to happen if we were to get on there - the stalls would be properly spaced out, not in the face of any retailers, and properly presented.

"But the council does not want that and, therefore, is raising these obstacles."

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