Camden New Journal - News: Inverness Street canopy is blown away

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Camden New Journal - by SARA NEWMAN
Published: 7 February 2008

Sir Jonathan Miller with one of the stallholders

Inverness Street canopy is blown away

INVERNESS Street market traders, backed by playwright Sir Jonathan Miller, are threatening to call in health and safety officials after a strong wind blew away a canopy over one of their stalls.
The green and white covering, brought in during a £1.5 million council revamp of the market last July, was blown skyward on Tuesday morning in the blustery conditions.
One trader, who asked not to be named, said: “It just blew up into the air and came crashing down again. We get hassled over rent if we speak out. We are trying to get the health and safety in.”
Writer Sir Jonathan, who was reluctant to be pictured, has previously spoken out about the market’s image, comparing the sign bridging the street with the one above the concentration camp at Auschwitz.
He said: “We need to go on and on about them putting these tents up.”
Fruit and veg stallholder Michael O’Hara, 61, said: “The council wanted all the stalls on Inverness Street to look the same. But look at them. It’s rubbish.”
Where previously the traders used tarpaulin attached to metal frames tacked on to wooden barrows, the council has ordered that all the stalls are covered with the same green and white-striped canopies.
A council spokesperson said: “Our visit to the market this morning found that pins used to secure the canopies on some stalls had become loose, causing one canopy to lift up into the air on Tuesday.
“We have contacted the supplier to remedy this fault.”

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