Market debt has increased to £2.1m - council

A council is standing by its decision to close a 202-year-old market after further investigations found the authority is owed £2.1m from traders.

Last autumn, Liverpool City Council said it would seek to recover three years’ worth of arrears from the dozens of businesses located within St Johns Market.

The authority originally put the figure at £1.7m.

Traders said they were left shocked by the closure despite an initial request for unpaid rent being made last October.

Traders protested over the market closure in March

The additional owed money is made up of arrears owing to some traders leaving the market before the end of their official agreement and some businesses occupying two units while only being officially listed as operating one, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Some of the increased arrears also date back to historical debts owed to the city council.

Around £1m a year was being spent to subsidise the market by the city council which said it intended to pursue the debt in full.

In a BBC Radio Merseyside debate on the topic with opposition leader Councillor Carl Cashman, Councillor Nick Small, cabinet member for growth and economy, said "leases had been breached but stallholders needed to pay what they owed to the council”.

A meeting about the future of the market will take place next week

Mr Cashman accused council officials of stopping people making a living and said it was “fantasy” to believe traders would be able to repay the debt in full.

Businesses were rocked in March when they discovered the shutters had been pulled down by council officials and the city centre market had been closed.

Colin Laphan, chair of St Johns Market Traders Association, said businesses were seeking to legally challenge the decision to close the market and faced a battle to raise the necessary funds.

The LDRS understands of the 62 occupied units at the market, ten of the operators did not respond to Liverpool Council requests over repayment.

A meeting on the future of the market will take place next Tuesday at Liverpool Town Hall.