MARKET traders in Altrincham are up in arms over regeneration plans for the town's historic market quarter.

They claim:

l they have not being properly consulted over future plans for the market

l the regeneration team is riding roughshod over their opinions

l they have been stopped from trading on Pot Street

l the new road layout is taking people away from the market.

Ten traders on Pot Street have been told to relocate elsewhere in the market after the road was opened up to traffic in an experimental road scheme.

Bag seller Jeff Bear has had a stall on the corner of Pot Street for 40 years but now has to move.

He has been offered two stalls inside the market but claims this will not give him enough space.

"We just got a letter telling us we're finished. I've been trading here for 40 years and why should I lose out. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do. I might not come back," he told SAM.

Fishmonger Emerson Taylor said: "The regeneration team has got no concern for the traders.

"We want Pot Street closed to traffic for stalls."

And new proposals will mean there will be less space available for traders. Plant stallholder Eric Tomlinson said: "It's always been called a country market town, if they lose this, they lose Altrincham. There's no consideration for traders.

A nightwear trader on the market believes the layout of roads around the market is not helping trade.

She told SAM: "Central Way and Market Street are both one way, but they both go the same way, away from the market."

Carole Cooper, general secretary of Altrincham market traders association, says that many traders have concerns about the proposals for the market. She added: "We are very willing to make all of this work, but we're losing more than we're gaining.

"We've lost territory and not gained anything for our traders. We don't want to be negative about future plans but most of those traders who trade on Pot Street have been there for a long time and have not been accommodated on the market and we think that is grossly unfair."

The council has advertised for a private operator to help run the town's market on a partnership basis and has introduced temporary changes to the road layout around the market.

Sonia Cubrilo, head of area services, Altrincham, said the council had introduced experimental traffic orders in the area to see how it works.

She said the council had received complaints from pedestrians who had to walk in the road to get past stalls trading on the pavement of Pot Street, and as a health and safety measure Trafford has decided to move traders from Pot Street.

Sonia said: "We have got stalls inside the market that aren't being used and we want to accommodate those market traders who have been displaced by these changes inside the market."

Trafford hopes to be able to announce the new partner for Altrincham market at the December area board meeting.