Market Drayton’s Saturday market has been axed after just six weeks.
Owners Town and Country Markets took the decision on Monday after traffic problems caused by an increase in car boot sellers and shoppers brought disruption to businesses over the last two weekends.
Extra car boot stalls occupied car parking spaces at the market, leaving motorists to park their cars on access roads to Burnside Business Park and outside the Gingerbread Man pub.
An employee of BCW Agriculture, who asked not to be named, said: “For some unknown reason, vehicles were allowed to park on the side of the road by the Gingerbread Man and they were queuing all the way from the island and on it.
“People working at the business park couldn’t get out because there were cars on both sides of the road.
“It was horrendous and there were men in yellow jackets trying to direct people off the island but at one point, there were so many people trying to get in that they weren’t doing any good at all.”
The market’s demise comes just two weeks after a Chamber of Trade survey showed that it was attracting people into Market Drayton from other parts of Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire.
Ray Gall, regional director of Town and Country Markets, said: “The good weather we had two Saturdays ago brought out three times the amount of car booters that we had before, which swallowed up a lot of the car parking spaces we had. We had difficulty moving the cars down the access road to the site, so they were queuing back onto the roundabout.
“Last week, we cured that and were turning everybody round that were coming towards the gate but unfortunately, it was made plain to us that people weren’t very happy about the situation.
“We’re not here to make trouble for other businesses so we took the decision on Monday to pull out.”
Councillor Roger Hughes said: “There was a real issue about public safety and a serious issue with businesses losing a substantial amount of turnover.
“One retailer told me his business had lost 60 per cent of its trade and you can’t have something that is having a serious impact on neighbouring businesses.
“I think it’s a very wise decision to end the market; I don’t see what else they could do.”
By Winston Brown