A TRADER has raised concerns about plans for a permanent market place in Hounslow town centre.

The new market place, which could open as early as June under council proposals, is part of plans to clear up the High Street.

According to a council report, discussed this week, the 'ad hoc' nature of temporary street trading licences has led to a cluttered high street with too many stalls offering poor quality goods.

Officers hope creating a designated market area, the location of which is yet to be decided, will help tidy up the High Street and attract more shoppers.

They intend to buy marquees next month, using money from Boris Johnson's Outer London Fund, with the new market place set to open in June or July.

But the proposals have yet to be approved by full council and, despite council promises to work with existing stall-holders to accommodate them, not all traders are happy

David Scott has run his market stall, selling bags and watches outside Costa Coffee, in the High Street, for more than six years.

He fears the new market place could actually make the town centre less attractive and prove the death knell for already struggling traders.

"I've got a good spot and I'm still only just surviving. If they push us up the top end of the High Street, which I understand they're planning to do, it will be disastrous," he said. "I've worked in a lot of markets across London and found that often when they move the stalls together into a designated market place it creates more mess.

"The only suitable location for a market place would be down the middle of the High Street."