A Cumbrian MP said she was raging about the decision to close Barrow Market Hall, which resulted in traders given just hours to leave.
Michelle Scrogham, MP for Barrow and Furness, is demanding Westmorland & Furness Council offers an alternative home for the businesses affected.
Traders were told yesterday, Tuesday February 17, that the building would close immediately.
She said: “I am raging about the way that the market traders have been treated.
“The council has known for a while now that it would need to provide an interim space for the market and to replace the Forum.
“The money is there and there are plenty of options available.
“We should not be in a position where the council are giving market traders 12 hours to clear their premises and with no clear plan for where they can move, whilst we wait for the Kendal-based council cabinet to decide on their preferred solution.
The council released a statement at 5.45pm yesterday, saying they had told traders earlier that afternoon.
Westmorland & Furness Council said the 55-year-old buildings had reached the end of their lives and it was no longer viable to retain them.
Experts have carried out detailed assessments on the buildings, the authority said, which showed that to reopen either or both of the buildings – even temporarily – would lead to expensive and extensive remedial work.
It added: “Wet weather has also highlighted some immediate issues with significant leaks in the roof of the market, which has brought forward plans to close the whole building.
“The council has concluded that the leaks are likely to get worse and as such it is no longer viable to keep the market building open.”
In 2023, the council embarked on a £17.5m revamp of the market hall but a year later discovered asbestos and an extra £6m was earmarked to help it be removed.
The work prompted the proposed closure of the adjacent Forum last year for up to two years.
The council has now scrapped the plans as part of the Heart of Barrow project which will see the Forum and market hall buildings demolished.
But the decision, and the way it was delivered to businesses, has angered the town’s MP.
Traders like Aphinya at Tuks Thai Foods were serving their final customers today.
“We were surprised to be told to leave so soon,” she said. “We thought we would have to leave in September but this is much earlier.”
What the future holds for her is unclear. She is hoping to find alternative premises to trade from but could not confirm where these would be.
Barrow BID has been offering support to traders who now face an uncertain future.
“It’s terrible news for the town,” shopper Jo Tyson commented.
With empty shops in streets not far from the market it is unclear why an alternative home was not found for traders, something which has frustrated the town’s MP.
Ms Scrogham said: “We have a huge opportunity here to transform our town centre backed by £200m additional investment from this Government and the innovative Team Barrow partnership.
“This is an important moment for our town and we have to get it right.
“However, I’m increasingly concerned as we move through this process that the lack of urgency by Westmorland and Furness Council will lead to us losing important businesses, community services, and town institutions.
“Once they are gone, they will be gone. It will be very difficult to replace them.
“I have asked that the council urgently provide an update on where traders will be moved and a plan for how they will be supported.
“I will continue to push for greater urgency and clarity around these decisions which are so important to our town.”
