London's 900-year-old Smithfield meat market to close as Dagenham move abandoned

Transcript

00:00London's historic Smithfield meat market is set to shut after almost 900 years of trading.

00:06This comes after a vote on Tuesday afternoon by the City of London Corporation,

00:11who said its council voted to stop operating both Smithfield and Billingsgate fish market.

00:16It had previously planned to relocate both markets to a new £1bn development in Dagenham,

00:21but the corporation put the plan on hold earlier this month before confirming on Tuesday

00:26that it has formally ended its interest in relocating the two markets.

00:30It said financial support would be provided to market traders at Smithfield and Billingsgate

00:35to help them relocate to new premises.

00:37Members of the corporation's council blamed the decision to axe its relocation plans

00:42on a sharp rise in construction costs and wider inflation, which made the move unaffordable.

00:47The relocation of the historic market to Dagenham was announced in 2022 by the city

00:52as part of a major regeneration programme.

00:54In a statement, the corporation said traders will continue their operations at both markets

00:59until at least 2028, but their future beyond that is unclear.