MARKET organisers in Kesgrave have described the venture as "dead in the water" after traders made so little money they refused to return.Hopes were high for the planned weekly market at the community centre but after the first day's trading it became clear there would not be enough interest.

MARKET organisers in Kesgrave have described the venture as "dead in the water" after traders made so little money they refused to return.

Hopes were high for the planned weekly market at the community centre but after the first day's trading it became clear there would not be enough interest.

One trader who had travelled all the way from Clacton decided to pack up his stall at 10am after making only £5, and organiser Alan Smith has had difficulty persuading others to return.

Mr Smith, manager of the War Memorial Community Centre, said: "I am very disappointed that we did not get the support. Weeks of work went into promoting the market but people just weren't buying.

"People are saying that we should not have given up after just one attempt but this is the livelihood of some of these traders and I can't expect them to keep turning up if they're not going to make any money.

"I can only conclude that it didn't take off because people of the younger generation are not market-orientated. They want to buy all their food under one roof.

"Therefore, the market concept here in Kesgrave is dead in the water."

It was hoped the market, which launched on April 3, would be a good way of bringing together the old and new areas of Kesgrave because of its central location, but Mr Smith said this was not the case.

"I was keeping an eye on where people came from and there were a lot of people coming over from old Kesgrave but hardly anybody from Grange Farm itself.

"I am disappointed but not discouraged. We will continue trying to make the centre a bigger part of the community."

Future plans include the launch of regular cinema nights, beginning in the school's summer holidays.

Do you think a market in Kesgrave is a good idea? Why do you think it did not work? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk