TRADERS at Kidderminster's indoor market have barely a month to find somewhere else to go after being finally told to clear out of their dilapidated premises.
And a search headed by the district council to find the 20 traders a new home has reached a stalemate with no alternative premises found.
Stallholders will not be allowed to trade from their Worcester Street base after December 31 as the building will be not be granted a crucial safety certificate - to the dismay of a leading trader.
Ken Panting - chairman of the Kidderminster branch of the Market Traders' Federation - said he thought owners Wyre Forest District Council might have thrown the market a lifeline to remain open until a new home was found.
He said: "I thought they might extend it a bit because we are looking for somewhere else and the building is not going to fall down."
Mr Panting said he had now "lost hope" with the district council's attempts to find traders a new place to go.
He said the two sides had this month been meeting once a week to try and find a solution but to no avail.
"I don't think there will be anything for us - all the council have come up with is single shop units.
"They are all too small and the only one which would hold a market is in the Horsefair.
"We want to be in the centre of Kidderminster not outside the ring road - we need to be in the heart of the town."
Council leader Howard Martin admitted the search had reached a dead end.
He said: "At the moment we have run out of options. It does not look like we can find a suitable place to continue the market after December 31."
Mr Martin said the current premises were "uninsurable" and the search was hampered by the stallholders' reluctance to trade more for than four days, as many properties insisted on tenants being open for six.
But he said the council - which is to push to have the market redeveloped - would "work hard to try and find suitable premises".
Stallholders will occupy the market for last time on Christmas Eve, Mr Panting said.
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