Nottingham: Victoria Centre Market decision delay branded a farce

Nick Clark of Cobblers and Keys is angry with the city council's treatment of stallholders

The long wait for a final decision on the future of a market has been called "a farce" after a council missed a deadline to make a decision.

Last year Nottingham City Council said it may end Victoria Centre's Market's lease in a bid to save money.

A final decision on the market was expected by the end of May, but this has again been pushed back.

The impasse was branded "shocking" by Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt when raised in Parliament in March.

Victoria Centre Market opened in the shopping centre in 1972 and was once home to more than 200 stalls, but now has just 31 traders.

The council said it had been running the market at a loss since 2014 and subsidised it at a cost of more than £1.5m.

Labour council leader David Mellen had told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was aiming to resolve the situation by "the end of May", but on Thursday a spokesman said this would not happen until at least the end of June.

Traders still operating in the market want a speedy resolution

Nick Clark, of Cobblers and Keys, said the situation was having an adverse impact on traders as well as their businesses.

"We are suffering with stress and nerves," he said.

"It is terrible how they have treated us. It is a farce.

"We are at the end of our tether. We might have to end up shutting down."

The authority said it would meet traders on 15 June "face-to-face to discuss matters".

"We do understand the ongoing uncertainty is frustrating," a spokesman said.