BURNLEY Council is pleading with residents to make the most of the town’s market hall.

Councillors are set to approve new rent levels and extra promotional work in a bid to attract more traders and customers into the indoor and outdoor markets.

A report warned that if visitor numbers continue to fall then the council will have to be prepared to “take a harder line on future market provision”.

The report came up with three options, all of which carried a cost to the council of between £3-£6 million.

Councillor Shah Hussain said: “In the current climate spending that kind of money with no guarantee that it would secure the future of the market hall isn’t something we’re prepared to do. It’s a matter of ‘use it or lose it’.”