Plans to move market abandoned by council

The council had planned to move the market to the site of the former Argos in Birkenhead

A decision to move a market has been scrapped after years of arguments about a plan that has already cost taxpayers more than £1m.

Wirral Council's leader Paula Basnett said she was "delighted" to cancel a proposed move of Birkenhead Market to a former Argos site in the town.

The Argos plans were first revealed by the Local Democracy Reporting Service in September 2023.

Wirral Council is to view a number of options "as a matter of urgency" with a likely option being the revamp of the current market next to the Pyramids Shopping Centre.

Basnett said she and her deputy were listening to traders, but "more importantly we are acting upon what they are asking for".

Greg McTigue, vice-chair of the organisation representing market traders, said he felt "unbounded joy" that the Argos plan had been scrapped.

Joe Orr faced losing his livelihood

Mr McTigue said the council's current political leadership "seem to be very much on the side of the people and the traders rather than the pen-pushers," adding: "We have a feeling that their sympathies are on our side.

"At the end of the day we do know it's down to what is in the till and what is going to be possible. I think they are still working on that."

Joe Orr, who faced being "kicked out" with his rug stall, said: "It always felt that decision was against us and not 'for the traders'."

He added: "Options on the table now feel 'for the traders'."

The government has given the council an extra 12 months to deliver the new market, taking the deadline to 2028.

• Additional reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting Service