More than 20 traders have signed a petition complaining about a slump in business at a major event.

Shopkeepers in Maldon High Street launched the move after claiming they lost trade during the recent town fair.

A stretch of High Street between Market Hill and Butt Lane was closed to traffic for a market and street entertainers - and some traders claim it kept regular customers away.

Colin Bliss, owner of Colin Bliss Models, said: "It discouraged our regular customers from coming into the shop. It turned what is normally regarded as a decent shopping day into a total farce."

Tony Newton, owner of Wadley's newsagent, said: "For a vast number of shops it turned out to be one of the worst trading days of the year with the lower end of the High Street looking like a ghost town."

Traders said market stalls had been set up close by selling the same produce.

Mr Bliss said: "It's basically having a shop outside with no overheads selling my product. I might as well not be here."

However, a number of new businesses saw a substantial increase in their takings, most notably Honey Lingerie and Jewellery where business almost doubled.

Sam White, owner of Honey, said: "It did me a lot of good because there was a lot of people in town who didn't know I was here."

New ice-cream parlour Ripples, and The Hair Room, also saw an increase in trade.

Marion Wells, town centre manager, who organised the fair, said the event had been a success. "We got many new visitors coming to town and a lot of local people came up especially to say how much they were enjoying the day."

In response to traders' complaints, she explained the area available to stalls was very small so they couldn't be put further away from shops.

Mrs Wells has distributed a survey to all traders, market stall holders and entertainers to gauge the response to the event and is encouraging everyone to fill in the forms.

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