Traders fear as West Bromwich indoor market opening hours cut

The market used to open at 8.30am and close at 5.30pm but now trading has been cut by one hour.

Sandwell Council says the majority of traders support the new times, which will see it open at 9am and close at 5pm, but not everyone is happy.

One sign put up inside the market said: "We as the food hall traders apologise to our early customers and would like you to know that this decision was taken against our wishes and against our best advice."

Councillor Derek Rowley, Sandwell's cabinet member for jobs and economy, defended the change today.

He said: "We carried out consultation with market traders where we sent out a letter and voting forms to all stalls asking their views on whether we should change the opening times of the market from 8.30am-5.30pm to 9am-5pm.

"The letter explained that this would bring the market into line with most of the shops in the Kings Square shopping centre and would reflect the fact that many stallholders did not open their stalls before 9am and closed before 5.30pm."

He said: "Over 90 per cent of the traders that returned their voting forms stated that they were in favour of amending the market opening times to 9am - 5pm. Therefore, although there may be a very small minority of traders that oppose this change, we are reflecting the views of the majority of market traders."

Ninder Johal, the president of Sandwell's Chamber of Commerce, today criticised the move. "In what is a difficult economic climate, traders need to be given every opportunity to sell their products," he said.

"I expect the reduced opening hours will be detrimental to traders. It reduces the opportunity for consumers to make purchases when it's convenient for them.

"When you have out-of-town shopping centres trading from 8am until 10pm, this restriction places traders in West Bromwich at a disadvantage.