Wellington traders upset as monthly market made quarterly

A lack of footfall is behind the move to make Wellington market quarterly

Market traders have expressed their concern about a decision to make a town's monthly market quarterly.

New organisers and a lack of footfall are behind the move to make Wellington market quarterly but some businesses said they were "disappointed".

Sarah-Beth Rowland, who sells cakes at the market, said that it was a "real shame" for the community.

Wellington Town Council said they wanted to make the market "busy and successful".

Ms Rowland added: "I've gone from strength to strength with this market.

"I've been to almost every single one they've done.

"It's a good, strong income for my business.

Traders at the market mostly sell food and homemade goods

"It's a real shame for the community not to have that event," she said.

"On a more positive note, I think the new market will bring a bigger crowd into town.

"It will be a bigger event - but until September the town is really going to miss that market vibe."

Another woman told BBC Radio Somerset: "It's all part of Wellington. It used to be bigger and better before Covid but since Covid everything scaled down and people haven't come back."

Wellington town councillor Keith Wheatley said: "Our goal is to have a busy, successful market with the maximum number of stalls and so far we're not content we've achieved that.

"We'd like to get to 35-40 stalls and we haven't managed that.

"It may be that we have to grow more carefully rather than trying to get to that number on a monthly basis."