Market traders in Wem have hit out at council bosses after they were told to move out for seven weeks while unplanned works are carried out.
Wem Town Hall will be closed from next month while work is carried out to the building’s floor and ceiling as part of a £400,000 improvement project.
Stallholders who attend a weekly market in the hall every Thursday were informed they would not be able to use the venue last week after contractors notified the council of the additional work required.
But more than 12 market traders have since claimed the closure will affect trade and jeopardise the future of the market.
Council bosses say traders can operate from the church hall on High Street and the lawn outside, but stallholders say this space is too small and too far out of the town centre. The venue will be closed from September 10 and is due to re-open on October 22.
Wyllis Turner, who runs a charity stall at the market, said several traders had threatened to pull out if the market was moved, putting the event in jeopardy for everyone.
“We are very unhappy about it. They have offered us the church hall which is nowhere near as big and further for people to walk,” she said.“People who run five of the biggest stalls are saying they will not come if it goes to the church hall which then has an effect on the rest of us.
“Once the market is gone it won’t return which is a shame because there has been one in Wem for years.”
Sue Gainsborough, who has been organising the project, said: “I can understand the market traders being upset by having to move, but we haven’t just abandoned them and have offered them an alternative location.
“The work was unforeseen after the contractors said they needed to repair the ceiling, which left us with no other option to move the market.
“Traders have claimed trade has been down by about 30 per cent since work on the town hall started, but in the summer it is usually quieter.”
John Murray, town councillor and owner of The Treacle Mine in High Street, said moving the market was unfair on stallholders and could have a knock on effect on town centre businesses.
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