'Its a way of life', Bilston Market stall traders praise community spirit in one of the regions's oldest markets
Market traders in Bilston have today praised the community spirit, bargains and 'wonderful' customers who have swarmed the patch as a heatwave sweeps the region.
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Bilston Indoor Market has a long and proud history, with the market hall celebrating its 50th birthday last year - in March - hosting over 80 stalls by over 40 traders and clocks millions of visits every year.
Along with the indoor space, there is also an outdoor market which hosts over 100 stalls and the whole site offers regular craft markets as well as young traders events and a car-boot sale every Sunday.
It will soon go through a major refurbishment, and is set to be moved to Bilston town centre while the multi-million pound plan is actioned, in a council scheme to modernise the patch and keep it in tip-top shape for years to come.
But before that happens, traders on the site - some who have been there for decades - have praised the community feel the market still holds, hosting millions of punters every year who together keep alive the shopper buzz that towns and cities continue to lose as online-spending tightens its hold on the nation's pockets.
Today, traders spoke highly not just of the history, but the continued support of the locals who frequent the market every week, with some known to get there at 9am and spend the whole day lounging around the burger vans and bartering with the traders for a tidy bargain.
One of the traders, John Thomas, 65, said: "I've been at this market for close to thirty years, it's a way of life, a brilliant one.
"The customers have been fantastic, we stand here out in the sun, in this brilliant place which is now being re-developed - hopefully for the better.
