TRADERS have called for a radical re-think of how Oxford’s Covered Market is promoted and run after city council leaders pledged £1.6m to improve the building.

Tenants spoke out after landlords the city council, which owns the Grade II listed building dating back to 1771, said it would invest £400,000 over the next four years in the fabric of the market.

Traders welcomed the investment and said fixing the leaking roof was a priority.

They added the market was now at ‘crisis point’ and urged the council to invest in marketing the attraction.

The £1.6m spending pledge was announced in the council’s 2018/2019 budget.

Spokesman Mish Tullar said: “There will be an investment of £1.6m in the fabric of the Covered Market, as part of our commitment to the city centre.

“This will be spent in four tranches of £400,000 a year from next year.

“The work will include roofing improvement, public convenience refurbishment, signage improvement, and external paving.”

Angela Carroll, who runs Fresh clothes store, said work on the roof should be done first.

She added: “Our roof has leaked, with water running down the walls but fortunately there has never been a torrential downpour.

“We have been lucky because we have been able to move our dresses and other stock out of the way.

“I know some units had to close over the summer because the roof was leaking.

“The council has already done some work on the roof but it’s complicated and expensive.”

Mrs Carroll said it was a ‘crisis point’ for the market following the departure last month of Haymans fishmongers and McCarthy’s greengrocers, and the opening of the Westgate Centre in October.

She added: “More money needs to be spent by the council on marketing, there should be much better signage and the entrances need to be made more prominent.

“Haymans has gone but it’s quite possible other long-standing tenants could go as well if we don’t have a good Christmas.”

Sandie Griffith, of the Covered Market Tenants’ Association, said the proposed investment from the council was ‘better than nothing’.

She added that tenants were facing rent increases of between 18 per cent and 25 per cent as part of the latest rent negotiations between traders and the council, which take place every five years.

Mrs Griffith added: “The council has paid for our Christmas lights this year and we are grateful for that.

“I think there has been under-investment in the market by the council in recent years.

“We need investment in marketing, and the council should go back to the consultants’ recommendations from 2013, which appear to have been shelved.”

Consultants The Retail Group said £4m should be spent on making the market nearly a third bigger, with an extra storey built to accommodate a rooftop cafe.

Graham Jones, of traders’ group ROX - Promoting Oxford Business - said: “It’s vital the market is safe, secure and dry - that’s essential, so this investment is welcome.

“But much more needs to be done and the market does need a radical re-think.

“Proposals for a mezzanine floor to accommodate new restaurants seems to have been ignored.”

Jie Wang, manager of A Taste of China noodles bar welcomed the £1.6m investment.

He added: “The market needs to be promoted better.”

The Alden family had run Haymans since 1989 and now all its operations are at Osney Mead.