Leak leads to trade loss
Market stall holders claim to have lost thousands of pounds after the indoor market was closed due to flooding on Saturday. L-r are Julie Betreen, of W&J Butchers, Gary Bennett, of The Cooked Meat Deli, Lynne Challis, of Toppings Pie and Butchers Company, Alex Bennett, of The Cooked Meat Deli, and Phil Armstrong, of Plane and Armstrong Ltd. Picture: Liz Mockler D2350LM
Desperate Doncaster market traders are calling for action this week after a leaking roof cost them tens of thousands of pounds worth of trade and stock.
Fire crews helped evacuate the indoor market when water poured into the food hall on Saturday and forced the market to close early on what traders called one of the busiest weekends of the year.
Furious Mark Topping, of Topping and Son, estimated more than £2,200 worth of losses and he was also disgusted that electrics damaged by the water were still not working by Tuesday.
He said: “It’s a farce. Anyone else would have had an electrician in straight away.”
Fellow trader Julie Betreen, of W and J Butchers, said: “I was disgusted that no-one was doing anything. The council could definitely have been more supportive.”
Several businesses had to close completely on Tuesday including the Farmhouse Pantry with other traders operating thanks to emergency generators. Credit card machines were not working and several traders were having to look out stock by torchlight.
Phil Armstrong, of Plane and Armstrong, added: “This is not the first time that it’s been like this. This is supposed to be an award-winning market and it could be so much better if they spent money stopping this kind of thing happening.”
Mayor of Doncaster, Peter Davies, said: “As a result of what happened on Saturday, we intend to look at our market buildings to see whether any changes need to be made so they can cope better with extraordinary weather related events.”
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Weather for Thorne
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
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Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North
