‘World’s oldest surviving market’ running for 1,000 YEARS will close down as costs spiral
A MARKET thought to be the oldest in the world will close down after running for nearly 1,000 years.
City of London bosses had planned to move Smithfield meat market to Dagenham on the Essex border.
But they have today scrapped the £1billion move amid spiralling costs.
Smithfield will not be moved to the new location following the U-turn - but it will still close down.
An insider told : "The whole market move has been catastrophically mismanaged."
But one trader said: "I’ve been working here for 30 years, and it's been about to close for 30 years - so I’m taking it all with a pinch of salt."
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Meat traders at the central London market could get more than £300million in compensation, it is reported.
The market will stay open until "at least" 2028 after the City of London Corporation voted to shut it this afternoon.
Traders have sold meat in and around modern-day Smithfield since before 1000AD.
A medieval clerk described it as "a smooth field where every Friday there is a celebrated rendezvous of fine horses to be sold".
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The clerk added: "In another quarter are placed swine with their deep flanks, and cows and oxen of immense bulk."
Former customers include novelist Charles Dickens, who described its "filth and fat and blood and foam" in Great Expectations.
Now officials want to turn Smithfield into a "mixed-use cultural development" housing the Museum of London.
But three top lawyers have warned the Corporation's decision could be "unlawful".
In a letter, they said: "Understanding the social and economic importance of the existing markets is vital to any decision by the court to abolish them.
"As is the social and economic implications of doing so.
"The failure to have this information available would, we are concerned, be unlawful."
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But the Corporation said its own lawyers are "satisfied" the decision is legal.
City of London chair Chris Hayward said: "People are eating less meat and fish.
"An increasing amount of trade is handled directly online and we understand that a majority of traders will continue with their businesses.
"The strength of the markets has always been in the traders, not the buildings."
The Corporation has already splashed out £308million moving the market.
Last year traders were given £115million in compensation after Smithfield's poultry market shut.
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Dominic Twomey, leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: “While this is disappointing news, we understand the financial pressures that key investment projects are facing with soaring inflation in recent years.
“We are committed to continue working with the City of London Corporation to unlock the huge potential of the Dagenham Dock site to bring new employment uses and high quality jobs for local people.”
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