A once "great market" is dying and plans to make it permanent will only kill it quicker says retired St Albans trader.

Brian Husband, of Partridge Road, agreed with the traders that the proposals to extend the number of stalls on non-market days in St Albans is a bad idea.

St Albans District Council has put forward plans to allow more than four street traders on non-market days – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The 73-year-old said: "I have seen this happen to other markets and it will kill the trade completely."

Mr Husband, who first started working on a stall selling meat in the 1960s, would go to different towns and cities on their various market days.

He said: "We would go Basildon market on Saturdays and would take more than £5,000 in a day – this was more than 15 years ago.

"Then they started opening it two days a week and in the end we stopped going because it was a waste of time – we wouldn’t make the same money.

"This was the same with Hitchin, once they started opening it every day it killed the trade.

"The best market is one that opens one day a week, because people have only that one day to get down there no matter what the weather."

The retired butcher described the market days in St Albans as a loud, fun place packed full of people queuing and trying get from one stall to the other.

Mr Husband added: "We used to turn around and crack jokes with others. That atmosphere is gone – the market is a dying trade.

"St Albans used to be great, but the parking situation has put people off buying lots of stuff.

"People used to pitch to try and push trade – no-one seems to do that either. And if the council goes ahead with having more stalls during the week, it will kill St Albans market."

The licensing committee at St Albans District Council will discuss the plans for the market at a meeting on Thursday.