A SEAFOOD market trader has thanked the public for helping him to win a dispute with local councillors who had wanted to stop him trading at a market set up to help farmers.

A row erupted earlier this year when members of Barnard Castle Town Council tried to stop travelling fishmonger Jim Hebden from visiting the town's farmers' market once a month.

Some councillors claimed the Whitby trader should not be allowed to set up his Fruits of the Sea stall because he was not a farmer and did not live within a 30-mile radius of the town.

A farmers' market is held on one Saturday each month, and has proved a huge success since it was launched last year.

But the market had been started with the intention of helping local farmers, and town councillors were close to banning Mr Hebden and replacing his stall with one run by a farmer.

The town council contacted the National Association of Farmers' Markets, to get confirmation on whether Mr Hebden should be allowed to trade at the market.

The association felt he should be allowed to continue setting up his stall and members agreed to continue providing funding for the market.

Mr Hebden, who has closed his shop in Whitby to concentrate on trading at farmers' markets around the region, claims it was public support that had helped to sway the decision.

He said: "It would have been silly to ban me. It was not what the public wanted and I'm just relieved the council has seen sense.

"If they had banned me then I would have accepted the decision, but I don't think the customers would have been pleased."

Town councillor John Watson, said that there was still concern among council members that the decision could set a dangerous precedent.

He said: "It is a farmers' market and there was obvious concern that the fish stall did not meet with the market stall guidelines.

"We have agreed to allow him to continue trading, but there is some concern that it may open the doors to other non-farming businesses from outside the area."