DISGRUNTLED traders at Redditch Market are appealing to the local authority to make a decision on its future.

Stallholders want Redditch Council to put paid to uncertainty about the market's future and stop rumours they claim are flying around.

Reddi Appliances owner Chris Sutton told the Advertiser he and other traders had tried to find out what would happen to the market, but had still not been told by the council.

"We got really fed up of people asking us what was going on," he said.

"The council is not prepared to say what it's going to do so there are rumours all the time."

Mr Sutton, also chairman of the Redditch branch of the National Market Traders' Federation, has been handing out fliers to residents urging them to call the council to find out what the situation is, rather than asking traders.

He said they needed to know what would happen, whether it meant staying where they were or moving to another location.

"Basically we want to know what's going on to stop all the rumours," he said.

"The market belongs to Redditch Council, they run it, we don't - it's not fair for people to keep asking us what's happening because we don't know, we have a hard enough problem trying to get trade."

However, Redditch Council's director of housing and asset management Jackie Smith said they did appreciate customers' concerns about the implications of the recent budget strategy for the market.

"Until officers have been able to work out detailed plans and proposals or options for how the savings can be made, no information can be provided," she said.

"However, we would assure traders that we will meet with them when it is practical to do so."

Another council spokesman added: "We are actively looking at all options for the financial viability of the market."