TRADERS at a Teesside flea market have been hit by vandals who scaled a wall and smashed up their stalls.

The twice-weekly market has been held in the 300-year-old Green Dragon Yard, Stockton, for 25 years.

Earlier this year, a gate had been repeatedly smashed, thieves were causing a problem and there were regular tirades of abuse from the flats overlooking the market.

The traders were close to packing up and leaving, until a drainpipe was removed, stopping vandals climbing into the yard.

However, the pipe has been reinstalled and Angela Rogers, who owns and runs the market square, said she is not allowed to raise the wall three feet to its original height without planning permission, which, she claims, is unnecessary red tape.

However, the council argues that the square falls within a conservation area and alterations would need to be discussed with planning officials.

Traders believe that the square, the oldest part of Stockton, should be looked after and marketed to tourists who visit from around the world.

Mrs Rogers said she was assured by Stockton Borough Council that the new drainpipe would have a cover to stop people climbing up it, but the work that had been done was not enough to stop vandals getting over the wall.

The first new attack on the stalls happened last week.

She said: "When the drainpipe was missing they never got over, but the drainpipe went up last week and it's started again."

A council spokeswoman said contractors had been asked to do more work on the pipe, and that situation would be rectified soon.

Paul Turnbull, who has a medals and coins stall, said the market should be looked after, as it brings money into the town.

"I have clients come from all over the country, into Stockton, from Leeds and Hull," he said. "They come to see me, then they are spending in the town."

Ways of commemorating the town's history will be among items discussed at a meeting tomorrow, in the Green Dragon Yard Museum, at 5pm.