Leicester: Council approves £7.5m revamp of historic market

The new-look market would have 84 new stalls in a different layout

A £7.5m plan to revamp Leicester's market has been approved.

The historic market dates back 700 years with many of its ageing stalls, and its roof, built in the 1970s.

The city council said it hoped the transformation of the market would create a shopping destination "fit for the 21st Century".

In September the authority unveiled proposals to create three new zones around Market Place and now planning officers have approved the scheme.

Leicester's mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said he wanted to create a space that was suitable for modern trading and shopping styles, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The designs would see £7.5m of improvements made to the market

Under the plans, the area around the old fish market will host a new café, planting and public art, and will have space for temporary stalls for one-off events such as farmers markets and a Christmas market.

The existing covered market will get a complete overhaul with the roof being demolished and replaced with one that is thinner but more elevated to increase the sense of space and light.

Planning documents also show proposals to improve the layout of stalls, and increase their number to 84 by removing the roof columns.

The area would also be fully secured at night by shutters to try to tackle long-standing problems with anti-social behaviour after dark.

Critics said the designs were too generic

Mike Dalzell, the council's director for tourism, culture and inward investment, previously said: "When the market isn't operating, people go and gather under the roof to drink and do other stuff, and you're not supervised and it feels out of the way."

The area in front of the indoor market will have 16 new lockable pods for traders designed to allow a range of different uses.

The whole market will be also resurfaced and the new layout allows for better views of the Corn Exchange building.

The council said the project would allow the historic market to flourish in the future but critics, including the council's Conservation Advisory Panel, said the designs for the covered market were generic and an opportunity for a more ambitious scheme had been missed.