Nottingham Christmas market closed for rest of year after crowds draw social distancing complaints

Nottingham's Christmas market will remain closed for the rest of the year after dense crowds of people gathered in the city's market square on the first day of opening.

The market was closed around 6pm on Saturday due to an increase in the numbers of people around the Old Market Square on a day where the city centre was already "notably busier than anticipated", according to a joint statement from Nottingham City Council and Mellors Group, the market organisers.

Stalls remained closed on Sunday before the decision was taken not to reopen the market again this year, based partly on the observation of a second day of heavy footfall in the city centre, the council and organisers said.

Pictures showing large crowds of people gathering at the market in the tier 3 city were shared widely online on Saturday and drew fierce criticism from locals who feared a resulting influx of coronavirus cases.

Many locals fumed at the lack of social distancing and questioned why the market had been allowed to open in the first place, particularly when coronavirus measures in Nottingham mean pubs and restaurants cannot open and social gatherings are restricted.

"Should never have opened," Susie Savidge told Nottinghamshire Live, "you can't see family and friends in their gardens but thousands of people were allowed to not social distance there."

Jo Cox-Brown, founder of Night Time Economy solutions, said she supported the decision to keep the market closed but called for an independent review of the event's handling.

Ms Cox-Brown said she was in the city centre to support Small Business Saturday and thought the market opening "wasn't being well-managed" and "wasn't being very well-controlled". She told the BBC people had been in touch with her to say they felt the organisers were "putting their Christmas at risk".

The city council along with Mellors Group said a "wide range of measures" had been in place to ensure compliance with tier 3 restrictions of social gatherings, including plans to control the number of people allowed into the market square at any one.

However, they admitted the measures were ineffective, claiming "numbers were too large" to control.

In a joint statement, the council and organisers apologised to locals who were "looking forward to visiting" the Christmas market along with stall holders who will miss out on a "vital opportunity to trade in what has been an incredibly difficult year".  

"We wanted the market to help support the local economy and bring some festive cheer by bringing people into the city centre in a safe, managed way as part of the reopening of non-essential retail after the national lockdown," the pair said.

Trader Simon Bonsai said he was “hugely disappointed” by the closure but told the BBC the decision was “obvious” as “it was so busy last night, there were too many people about."