A WREXHAM farmers’ market which was closed by the council is to be relaunched.
It looked as though the market, which had pitched up on Queens Square since 2001, had come to an end in March after local authority bosses decided to stop running it on the grounds it was costing too much public money to finance.
However, it will be back this Friday between 9am and 2pm in a new guise, after the council agreed to let traders buy their own stalls on the square and put them up themselves.
Eileen Gilpin, who runs the stall Wrexham Country Market, formerly the WI Market, said: “We are going to do it for six months as a trial period to see how it goes.
“The council have given us dates up until December and it will be more or less the same format as before.”
The move came after stallholders launched a petition protesting the plans to shut down the market. Over 450 people signed it.
Eileen said: “We handed the petition in and that seems to have stirred them up a bit.
“We still pay rent and it means we can carry on with it as long as we put up and take down our own stalls.
“We’ve also bought the stalls from the council.
“We are very pleased with the result, it is great news.”
The new market, now called Wrexham Local Produce Market, is held on the third Friday of every month.
Cllr Rodney Skelland, lead member for regeneration and corporate governance, said: “Wrexham Council is delighted that we have been able to work with the traders to enable the market to continue as a local produce market which will continue to trade on the third Friday of every month.
“Local produce, both food and crafts, is very important as it gives the customer the opportunity to find out more about the product they are buying directly from those involved not only in selling it, but also in producing it.”