A SCHEME aimed at keeping Bedale's weekly market alive seems set to be maintained, even though there is no evidence yet to suggest that it is working.

Hambleton District Council was urged to step in when concern over the dwindling number of stalls reached members of the National Market Traders Federation.

The council suggested an incentive scheme, offering stallholders who took pitches for ten consecutive weeks another free of charge.

The authority agreed, and the project was introduced in March.

It has now been running for 24 weeks and 16 traders have claimed free rent, which has cost the council an estimated £290.

However, the revenue the authority receives from the market has only exceeded budget by £260 which suggests the scheme has had little impact so far.

The average number of stalls remains around 13, although it has been as low as six and as high as 17.

But council chiefs accept the situation could have been worse if the incentives had not been introduced, and a report, tabled when the authority's environment committee meets on Thursday, suggests the scheme is allowed to continue.

It points out that only then will the authority have a complete picture of a full year, including the winter months when the numbers of stall-holders usually declines due to harsher weather.

The council had also been considering extending the project to cover Northallerton and Thirsk, but officers suggest the results of the Bedale experiment are evaluated first, with a decision on the way ahead pencilled in for consideration next May.

Report author Eric Kendall says: "The scheme does not appear to have resulted in a significant increase in the number of traders attending Bedale market.

"It could be argued, however, that it may have prevented a decline in numbers, but it is impossible to say what may have happened to traders' attendances if the scheme had not been put into place.

"The winter period has traditionally seen a significant drop in the number of traders attending the market at Bedale and, therefore, it will be interesting to see whether the presence of the incentive scheme will encourage more traders to continue to trade at Bedale during the coming winter."