WALTON’S closure-threatened market has been saved.

Fears for the future of the market arose when landowner Tendring Council wanted to almost double the rent Frinton and Walton Town Council paid to use the High Street car park market site.

The town council’s lease runs out on September 29 and there were fears a deal might not be struck in time to keep the market going.

Originally Tendring Council was asking £9,600 a year for the site, but the town council was offering a maximum of £5,000.

Now the councils have struck a compromise deal, with the town council agreeing to pay £7,300 for the coming year.

Bob Richmond, town clerk, said while the district council had agreed on a lower rent, it had refused to agree a three-year lease for the site, as his council had wanted.

He said: “The reason for that is to see what happens with the site when the Walton masterplan is published, which seems reasonable.”

The town council had previously argued the town deserved a rent lower than the market rate because of the market’s social benefits to Walton. The market loses £10,000 a year.

Walton councillor Jan King, who campaigned to save the market two years ago, said a year’s lease is not long enough to offer security to stallholders.

She added: “We would like to see a three-year lease for the security and continuity of the market. However, we will now become the council’s tenants, so will be in a better position than we are now for renegotiating the future of the site in years to come.”

The town council inherited the current lease when it stepped in to save the market two years ago after Shropshire-based Town and Country Markets pulled out.