Market traders in a County Armagh town have expressed fears about their livelihoods with the construction of a new �1.5m complex in the town.

They are worried that they will be homeless when work begins on the building in William Street, where they have held a twice weekly market since 1929.

Council officials, market traders and representatives of a company behind town centre development, attended a meeting on Wednesday night to discuss the concerns.

Portadown 2000, which is behind development in the commercial heart of Portadown, chose the market building as its first major renovation project.

The work gets underway in three weeks time and is expected to take nine months to complete.

But traders have feared that they could find themselves without a home for their Friday and Saturday markets, while construction work is on-going.

Customers also concerned

Traders spokesman Colin Weir said their anxieties had also been shared by their customers.

"The public in Portadown have been coming up to us this last three weeks and saying they want us here. So from a public point of view as well, a market is very important.

"It has been used by both sides of the community and we don't have much of that in Portadown."

However, he said the meeting had eased their fears that they would not "end up on the streets".

Brian Walker, the chairman of Portadown 2000, said the meeting had been constructive.

He said: "The object of this exercise is to provide an enhanced market facility and Portadown 2000 and the borough council are totally behind that concept.

"And we hope that this concept will bring improvement to the town centre of Portadown."

He said he hoped the difficulties had been sorted out with the establishment of a working party between the traders and Portadown 2000, which would meet on a regular basis.

Options being explored

He said options would be explored to ensure the traders did not find themselves out of business.

"The agenda is open and we look forward to working with them (traders) in an open and frank manner to resolve any particular difficulties.

"The object of this exercise is to promote and enhance market facility in Portadown."

He stressed that every effort had been made to find alternative accommodation for the traders.

The market renovation plan includes a scheme to provide an arts centre and a coffee shop.

Portadown 2000 also intends to provide smaller retail units on another William Street site where derelict houses have been demolished.

The company has secured �1.5m for the William Street project.

Mr Walker said his company viewed traders as a "crucial element" in the commercial life of Portadown.

"They bring increasing vibrancy to the heart of the town," he said.