EIGHT hundred years ago King John granted to Marlborough a charter to hold a street market on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

The town and market have survived over the centuries trading with visitors and the surrounding communities.

To celebrate the anniversary of the grant of this charter, what do you do? On June 12 you close the roads, import a so-called fun fair to occupy the traditional market site and banish the market traders to the end of the High Street leaving a huge open space in the centre of the town.

Despite this vacant space some traders had stayed away as they had been informed that there was to be no room for them due to other activities which were meant to occupy the site.

With road closed signs on Back Lane, even access to Hyde Lane car park, which would have assisted shoppers, was denied them. The local radio station warned motorists to avoid the area because of traffic chaos. You had closed the High Street early on Friday morning to create the worst havoc seen on roads for a long time, making many people late for work and turning the High Street into a 'ghost town'. Shopkeepers were thus affected on both days.

Local government is supposed to be for the benefit of the locality it governs. What good does the fiasco of that weekend do for anyone? Had you or any of the organisers of the event been out in the High Street on Saturday you would have been left in no doubt as to the amount of ill will and animosity your actions caused.

Traders in the town are suffering more and more from road closures. It is, for example, unnecessary to close the High Street for the jazz festival and of course the Mop fairs exclude the market and seriously affect trade in the town shops.

The street market provides colour and interest and adds to the character of the town. Market traders turn out in all weathers and they pay rent for their pitches. Due to Saturday's disruption our takings were considerably down on a normal Saturday. Other traders and the shopkeepers whose overheads are very high can tell similar stories. Not only the jobs of the front men and women but their back-up staff are under threat as a consequence of this ongoing trend to close the High Street without consultation.

None of us can afford to continue to lose money due to the drop in trade caused by council officers' actions.

TRADERS: Paul Manning, David Guest, Bob Green, Mike Connors, Ainsley Brooks, Sonia Wright, Charles Barford, Denise Benham, Edward Grandy, Colin Knowlson, John Burret, Rebecca Jones, Julien Jacklin and Mike Hibberd.

Letter sent to the Mayor of Marlborough