CELEBRITY astrologer Russell Grant has put his weight behind the Goldhawk Road traders' bid to save their shops from destruction.
Mr Grant is a regular customer at one of the threatened shops, Cooke's Pie and Mash, which faces being relocated as part of plans to regenerate Shepherd's Bush Market.
And Mr Grant, pictured in the shop last week, is backing the traders' bid to get planning permission for the controversial scheme overturned in the High Court, telling Cooke's part-owner Audrey Boughton they should fight the plans all the way.
The thirteen affected shops will launch their bid for a second judicial review against Hammersmith and Fulham Council after the authority informed them last week it is set to slap Compulsory Purchase Orders on their premises.
The council is ploughing on with the controversial scheme, despite suffering defeat in court last month when a judge agreed with the traders' allegation its public consultation into the scheme was flawed and therefore unlawful. He ordered the council to pay £75,000 in court costs.
The council wants to move the shops to bigger, more modern units at a redeveloped market, but Mrs Boughton, who runs the pie shop with husband Mike, said traders were increasingly confident of getting theplans thrown out and have been boosted by the support from the likes of Mr Grant.
She said: "We've already beaten them once in the court and we are sure we can do it again. We don't want to move and believe we'll still be here in 10 years time. We have had so much support, not just from our celebrity customers like Russell but also from the wider community. Russell has been coming here for years and doesn't want to see us go."
Mrs Boughton said she can't understand why the council is pressing ahead in the face of such opposition. "I'm stunned they're still going because as far as we're concerned it has already been ruled illegal. But then when has the council ever listened to a word we have said?"
The authority last month warned the shops the initial High Court judgement didn't affect the scheme and insisted the traders have been offered a good deal by the developers.
A spokesman said: "We know that around 75 per cent of respondents to the council’s initial consultation on improving the market were in favour of the regeneration plans. For more than a decade, traders and customers have been complaining that the market has been allowed to decline because of a lack of investment.
"We now have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the market and surrounding area and it would be irresponsible of us to allow a small minority to scupper these long-awaited plans."
