TRADERS whose businesses on Oldham's Tommyfield Market have been stricken by the coronavirus lockdown have appealed to town hall chiefs to waive or reduce their rents.

But Oldham Council leader Sean Fielding has said the town cannot afford to relax its charges.

More than 100 stallholders -paying £510 per month for each unit they run - are represented by the Tommyfield Market Traders Association, administered by a committee of 10.

One of them is Ray Aslam, who runs Kandy Kingdom, told The Oldham Times: "We have all agreed to appeal against having to pay full rent for our stall/s during this pandemic.

"Despite numerous requests to discuss waivers and or reductions with Oldham Council they seem to be falling on deaf ears as no one from the council has even acknowledged our requests let alone made a decision.

"We (TMTA) would like it to be known that the council is not interested in our requests and in actual fact are all about money despite us not being able to trade due to the government lockdown.

"We find it unfair and unjust having to pay rents for this period as we simply cannot afford to pay when we were not able to trade. We feel we have a important role to the people of Oldham not just as market traders but employers too.

"The market is a huge community hub for many people."

And he went on: "Many other councils up and down the country have waived rents for their market traders.

"Business has been tough long before lockdown and the rent was high compared to many other indoor and outdoor markets and unfortunately the pandemic has made it a whole lot tougher for everyone.

"We feel the council should offer some sort of rescue package to help the traders and for the people of Oldham to have a sustainable indoor and outdoor market some long established traders have given their notices to cease trading as they feel the council just has not done enough for us in terms of waivers and or reductions.

"When the leader of the council (Sean Fielding) was first elected he mentioned he wanted to take personal responsibility for the market.

"We feel let down by him and we also feel he has hung us out to dry. My words may seem harsh and abrupt this is because we feel they are playing with our livelihoods. "The market has been closed for almost 12 weeks and once we are allowed to trade again it’s a case of starting afresh and this will only be possible without any more stress with regards to arrears accumulated during lockdown."

Cllr Fielding, who is also the council's cabinet member for economy and skills, said he was grateful to the traders for helping to prevent the spread of coronavirus and protect the public.

He continued: “We are working closely with traders and have written to them to explain our position on collecting rents.

"The pandemic has had a massive impact on council finances and we have had to make some very difficult decisions to ensure that what funding we have was delivered to front line services like health and social care.

“Rent payments are essential to keep the markets running. Not collecting them would take money away from necessary building maintenance, existing contracts, and measures to re-open the market, such as extra staff to manage social distancing.

“We cannot draw upon the council’s already tight budget – and we cannot afford to squeeze it further when we know the virus is far from over and the effects of it will be felt for years to come.

“Many traders can take advantage of the Small Business Grant Funding which provides a cash grant of £10,000 to support small businesses, particularly with their overheads like rent. The discretionary grants fund is also open to provide support to eligible businesses.

“We encourage traders to explore these grants if they haven’t already done so, as well as other financial packages introduced by government. If any traders need support with this, the council’s business support team is happy to help (0161 770 2077 or email invest@oldham.gov.uk).

“Finally, I would encourage the public to support traders as much as they can when Tommyfield Market re-opens on June 15. They need your custom now more than ever.”