TOWN centre shops are being urged to show their support for a market which some local residents want to be moved.

The SOS comes from business owners in Knutsford, who say the Makers Market brings a ‘phenomenal’ number of people into the town each month.

Rachael Mayhew and Steph Chadwick, Cha Bar and Market Café owners respectively, are asking shops to sign a letter of support for the Makers Market in Princess Street.

They aim to visit every shop in the town to seek their backing, and plan to present the letters to Knutsford Town Council to show the strength of support for the market.

The Makers Market has taken place on the first Sunday of the month since 2013.

It is one of the largest artisan markets of its type in the UK, but residents of Silk Mill Street have had enough of the disruption they say it causes.

They say they cannot access their cars from 6am on Sunday because of the stalls being erected, which disturbs their sleep, and once the stalls are up it’s not possible for emergency vehicles to access Silk Mill Street.

Resident Richard Cussons voiced residents’ concerns at last week’s Knutsford Town Council meeting, and asked for the market to be moved elsewhere.

The call has sparked concern from Rachael and Steph, who say the Makers Market brings people into Knutsford from far and wide.

Rachael said she feared a repeat of the situation which saw complaints over plans to have Pub in the Park on the Heath result in the event moving to The Lambing Shed.

She said: “The number of people in town on Makers Market day is phenomenal, and the market helps the local shops massively.

“I am sure there are ways to resolve the residents’ concerns, and at the end of the day we just want our town to do well.

“Steph and I love Knutsford, and if didn’t we wouldn’t be doing what we are in asking for support from the other shops.”

Steph said: “It’s a once-a-month event, and surely the benefits from such an amazing community event should be something we as a town, and close community should be proud of and welcome, as it gives us a chance to show off our beautiful town and array of amazing businesses.”

Rachael added: “We feel as local businesses the whole idea of these events is to bring footfall to our town and to showcase the town in the most fantastic way we can.

“The community spirit on this one day of the month is out of this world, and at the end of the day it only takes place one day of the month.

“Maybe they could create parking on the Heath and charge £1 or £2 for the day?

“As for the noise, one way this could be resolved by limiting the live music to an hour, during the busiest time of the day, possibly 1pm.

“However this gets people dancing in the street, so it would be a shame as it gets the public in such a jolly and happy mood, which is great to see.

“Emergency services have also been brought up as an issue - we feel there is plenty of access to get to the houses using suitable pathways.

“We want to work with the public and help to resolve the issues, as the last thing we want is for these fantastic events to have to stop, which would be a shame for us as businesses and most importantly for our amazing town.

“This is what unfortunately happened with the Pub in the Park, and we don’t want this to happen again, as it was a huge shame they couldn’t hold this event in our amazing town due to negative views and negativity again from residents.

“It would have been a huge opportunity to showcase our town to the thousands who visited the event.

“It’s so important to bring as much footfall to our town as possible to help us to keep trading and keep our town buzzing.

“If these events were to stop it makes our jobs a hundred times harder as they help us all massively each month as make all our businesses so busy.

“It’s so difficult at the moment to run small businesses, so this is the last thing we need to happen.”