RADCLIFFE Market traders have reported a pessimistic outlook for the New Year after failing to get caught up in the festive spending frenzy.

Despite Bury Council's efforts to inject new life into the market, some long-standing stallholders fear for its future after their takings were down on the Christmas period last year.

Vina Parker, chairman of Radcliffe Market Traders Association, said: "If anything, it has been even quieter than last Christmas. There's a severe shortage of food stalls and there is not a single stall selling fruit and veg. It's stalls like that which bring shoppers in on a regular basis."

While the council has instigated the introduction of car boot sales and a number of competitions, designed to increase the market's profile, many traders believe more stalls are needed for it to have a vibrant future.

Mary Ann Hodkinson, who has had a ladieswear stall for nine years, said business had been slacker than last Christmas. "We need to encourage younger people to shop on the market and the only way to do that is to have more stalls and stalls that sell a wider variety of goods," she said.

She believes that the weekend car boot sales have had a detrimental effect on market traders.

Mrs Jean Meadowcroft has run a bread stall on the market for 19 years but is not very optimistic about the future.

"There's been no improvement customer-wise on last Christmas. Business isn't getting any better," she said. "We have our regular customers and, if it was not for them, trade would be non-existent." Mrs Meadowcroft was also dismissive of moves to encourage stallholders to open on the car boot sale Sundays.

However, there are some positive signs, including a number of new stalls that have opened.

Philip Henshall set up a second-hand book stall on the market two months ago and intends to stay.

"I started off by doing the car boot sales. The books sold and I noticed that, apart from charity shops, there's nowhere in Radcliffe that sells a good selection of books. I've not been rushed off my feet but there are enough customers to make it worthwhile me staying."