The Market on the Moor is losing the town council too much money to continue have it running all year round, the mayor of Falmouth has told the Packet.

As reported in the Packet yesterday, traders have expressed concern after being told just before Christmas that the market is to be put back to ten months a year rather than 12.

The all-year round market was introduced in 2020 after traders say they were told there was enough interest to extend it to 12 months a year. But this year the Thursday and Saturday market will go back to March to December only.

Falmouth mayor Steve Eva told the Packet, the reason for the decision was because the market loses the town council too much money.

He said the market had been extended to help traders get back on their feet after Covid but this was no longer affordable.

"The market on the Moor loses money every time it's on and this cannot continue," he said. "The market was extended to 12 months last year to help those traders to recoup after Covid and it was explained at the time.

"We cannot continue to run at a loss and these three months are the biggest loss months of the year.

"To cover losses we would have to more than double the charge to run the market and the days the weather would stop the traders wanting a pitch would mean even more losses as we would have to pay a setup fee although the market cancelled for high winds or heavy rain.

"This year's budget will be hard enough and it's not fair on taxpayers to cover these losses.

"There will be some savings needed to be found from other parts of the council to keep the precept rise as low as we can."

Posting on its Facebook page the market organisers said the decision will effect their earnings.

They claimed the extension had been nothing to do with the pandemic but because there was enough interest to sustain it.

"In December 2020 the council told us if there was enough interest from traders then the Saturday market would continue year round and this is what is has done since," they said.

"We expected it to be the same this year and only found out a few days before Xmas that was not the case. Not much reason has been given other than it’s going back to how it was before the pandemic.

"But it had nothing to do with the pandemic, it ran because there were enough traders wanting/needing to trade."

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They say the decision will mean a loss of earnings for the regular traders who rely on the market to make a living, pay their bills and put food on the table for their families.

They appealed to people to support the traders during this difficult period.

"Times are hard for a lot of people right now and we all need to support each other as much as possible. Please support our traders."