A MONTHLY 100-stall market could be held in Witham.

The town’s Community Interest Company has been in talks with a potential operator.

It is hoped a monthly market could take place on Tuesdays if Essex County Council agrees to close Newland Street to traffic for six hours. Rob Williams, director of the Community Interest Company, said: “The intention is to gather support from all the groups around Witham.

“Doing it once in eight months a year, not in the winter, is not asking too much, especially if it is just six hours a day.

“That is how we will present our case.”

Charfleets, which operates markets in Pitsea and Rayleigh in south Essex, is understood to have agreed in principle to run the proposed market. Town councillors and traders say the Saturday market in Lockram Lane has a low profile due to its location behind the Newlands Precinct.

Braintree Council, which operates the Lockram Lane market, was unable to comment.