CHELFORD Market and agricultural centre will close at the end of March to make way for a housing development.

Directors at Wright Marshall announced the news this morning stating that the last sale will take place on Thursday, March 30 after the landlords entered into a contract with a development company.

After plans fell through to move the site to Middlewich, Wright Marshall has been looking for another ‘suitable location’ to house the market.

A spokesperson for Wright Marshall said: “The Directors of Wright Marshall are disappointed to confirm that Chelford Market will hold its last sale on March 30.

“Business will therefore cease at one of Britain’s best-known and most diverse Auction Centres, with the loss of a number of jobs, and with an expected significant impact upon the rural economy regionally.

“It is understood that the purchasers require vacant possession of the site prior to submitting a detailed planning application for housing, presumably to remove any concerns held by planning officers and councillors in appearing to be complicit in closing down the auction business at Chelford.

“An extension to the current lease has been granted only until the end of April. This is a bitter disappointment to the Directors of Wright Marshall, who have been striving for many years to provide a suitable site for relocation.”

The Chelford Market will temporarily be located to the company’s other auction centre at Beeston Castle, where plans are being put into place to accommodate the traders.