Furious market traders in York have hit out at City of York Council claiming they gave preferential treatment to French traders who set up a continental market in Parliament Street.

Traders from York's Newgate Market say they themselves are never allowed to set up their stalls on what they describe as the 'best pitch in Yorkshire'.

They are particularly annoyed the French visitors were brought in to the street on Yorkshire Day itself, August 1.

But city officials who organised the continental market hit back today - insisting it had been a major draw for the city and would have brought more punters to the Newgate market as well.

York council's City Centre Services Manager, Val Carter, said the French market was a one-off event that had been discussed in detail with the Newgate traders before its arrival in York.

She said: "In the event, the French market brought in a lot of extra people to York despite the very poor weather. There is no doubt that these extra people were filtering through into Newgate." Clothing trader Gerry Mulland, from Wigginton, who has had a stall on Newgate for the last 20 years, said the York traders have not been given a chance to do business on Parliament Street, a pitch he describes as "the best in Yorkshire".

"Why not put us out there?" asked Mr Mulland. "We trade in York 52 weeks a year, but we never get a chance to use the best trading area.

"I had a lot of people come up to me on Saturday and ask why there was a French market on Yorkshire Day. We should be given the opportunity to use the area for ourselves."

Mr Mulland claimed that the French traders had been offered cheaper rent on stalls than Newgate traders and also been given free parking.

He said a lot of the items on sale at the French market were equally available on Newgate. "But the French market was advertised and ours never is. Our profits from sales go straight back into York because we live here, their profits won't see York again."

A City of York Council spokesman stressed that while the French traders had been offered the pitches at a cheaper rate than York traders, they had had to travel from France.

He said: "Though the French traders paid less they had to travel thousands of miles to get to York, some from the French-Spanish borders. The Newgate traders come from, at most, Leeds."

Mrs Carter said the market had been a 'gamble' on the French traders part, as there was no guarantee there would have been much interest.

She added the Newgate traders had been offered the chance of a return visit themselves.

She said: "We have offered them the chance to visit France in the future."

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