THE leader of Darlington Borough Council has rejected claims that his authority has neglected the town’s covered market and said improvements are being made.

Conservative councillor Alan Coultas made a speech at a meeting of Darlington Borough Council where he accused the ruling Labour group of ignoring one of the town’s ‘crown jewels’.

But Councillor Bill Dixon, leader of the authority, said Coun Coultas’ claims were ‘outrageous and inaccurate’, adding that a number of upgrades were already underway.

Coun Coultas said: “It really is badly neglected. We are the landlord of this facility and we have a duty of care to the stall holders.

“It has not been decorated for 30 years and it has not been deep cleaned for five years.

“This is a jewel in the crown and it’s time we stopped neglecting it.”

Coun Coultas put forward a number of proposals for the future of the market, which he said had been put together after consultation with some of the market traders, including an immediate deep clean of the site, making the outside of the building more welcoming to customers and helping stall holders to make their pitches more attractive.

In response, Councillor Dixon said: “The councillor’s claims are outrage and inaccurate. The covered market is a jewel in the crown of this authority. The last refurbishment did take place in 1976, but it stands the test of time.

“We listen to the market traders and one of the things they said they wanted was advertisments on the outside, those are being installed. Wi-fi has also been installed and is ready to switch on.

“There is a problem with the market in that the rent has not been increased since 1997 - that’s a long time. But now is not the time for a rent increase, the traders are in a tough place and we need to support them.”

Robin Blair, vice-chairman of Darlington Retail Market Stallholders' Association, said: “Business is not easy at the moment. We are looking with the council to improve the market and make it a little bit more inviting.

“We were looking at getting it refurbished, which would be the ultimate. Unfortunately we are in a recession and the money is not available so we are trying to do some small things to make it better and brighter.”