Traders in Southend's York Road market are calling on the council to guarantee their future by implementing a ten-point plan for its future regeneration.
The move follows a meeting between the traders and council members to air their worries over the state of the covered market.
Patrick Baker, the co-ordinator of the York Road Market Traders' Action Group, said: "Most, if not all, the traders went into the meeting believing our council were quietly trying to close us down.
"At least some of us came away with a hope that we have been wrong."
In a letter to the council, he is asking for the authority to adopt a positive attitude to the future of the market.
Mr Baker said he believed it could be as popular as Brighton's East Sussex Lanes, which was similar to York Road and had achieved great success.
Ten-point plan in today's Echo
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