STALLHOLDERS whose trade has been hit during the massive upgrade of Ashburner Street Market are fuming over a £1 a day levy to pay for advertising.

And 60 have signed a petition opposing the extra charge on their rents.

The traders are to be charged the extra to pay for advertising the market when the £5 million facelift is completed.

And Bolton Council says its was actually the traders themselves who suggested the payment to advertise the market more widely.

Many stallholders believe the decline of the popular market is the fault of "council incompetence and mismanagement".

Mrs Greenhalgh, a Market Traders' Association Committee member who runs a coats stall, claims the council has driven customers away resulting in a decline in revenue.

Her daughter-in-law, Debbie Greenhalgh is planning legal action after permission for her popular Trainer Wagon on the market was withdrawn last month.

"The council were breaching their own guidelines because they didn't give me any notice and I didn't have a chance to warn my customers I wouldn't be there," said Debbie. "I've been trying to contact people in the town hall to get back on the market but no-one seems to want to know." Rita Greenhalgh says a list of concerns by traders in the miscellaneous section of the market have been ignored by management and the council.

She claims many traders have lost a lot of business as a result of disruption caused by the refurbishment scheme which is 18 months behind schedule and more than £1 million over budget.

Mrs Greenhalgh agreed that the Market Traders' Association agreed to the £1 advertising levy but said the miscellaneous stall holders who make up the majority of traders were outvoted by other sections of the market.

She said: "We have no objection to advertising the market but I think they have a bit of a nerve to levy this charge when the council has done nothing for us. We have lost at least 50 per cent of the regular traders and the council has created the position where the market needs advertising."

A spokesman for the Council said: "It was the Traders' Association who came up with the idea of a levy after the council had said it had set up an £18,000 fund for advertising the market. If the Association collectively agrees they don't want the levy it will be stopped.

"As far as the vehicle pitch is concerned, the arrangement was always only temporary. Several weeks of negotiation took place before the trader was told she could not come on the market. It was not without warning. It was difficult to find a place for it because it was so big."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.