Trader back on the market
A LOUGHBOROUGH market trader, who was banned from having a stall in the town centre after selling contemporary Knights Templar mugs, returned to her usual patch last Friday (October 20).
Tina Gayle met with Charnwood Borough Council officials the day before to discuss her situation after a spokesperson said they “got this one wrong”.
The result of the meeting was that Ms Gayle could return to the vintage market providing she sells “vintage and used items, not new items”.
Ms Gayle told the Echo: “I’ve been given my spot back so I’m grateful.
“I’ve sold 52 mugs online since all of this, I had to go to my trader in Sheffield and get more as I only had 12 originally. I can’t sell anything less than 20-years-old and no replicas.
“Lots of people have come to talk to me and told me they’re glad to see me back. It’s fantastic.”
Ms Gayle, who previously appeared in the Echo defending her right to sell WWII books and memorabilia sporting swastikas and photos of Adolf Hitler, featured on the front page of the paper on October 11 after she was told she could no longer sell in town.
The Echo reported in August that the borough council had intended to write to Ms Gayle, who has been selling predominately vintage books and history books at Loughborough market for almost three years, following “several complaints” about Second World War items “which could be deemed offensive to some”.
Following the August article, Ms Gayle contacted the Echo to say that she had been “told not to sell mugs or badges with Nazi symbols, CDs, and items with German Generals” and she had complied.
But on Friday, October 6, she was further told she could no longer trade at any Loughborough market due to the sale of “offensive” contemporary Knights Templar coffee mugs.
When the Echo initially contacted the borough council, a spokesperson said: “It’s not for us to comment as to why the mugs were offensive to the complainant, however we had previously asked the trader not to sell contemporary mugs or items which could cause offence so we asked for them to be removed.
“The trader refused to remove the mugs from the stall so we issued a second letter which excludes the trader from all Loughborough markets.”
Following the Echo’s article on the ban - which has received national coverage - the borough council publicly apologised in a statement.
They said “we do not find the mugs offensive” and the main issue was that “it is a vintage market and these items were new when we only want vintage or used items on sale”.
A spokesperson from the council told the Echo: “We met with Ms Gayle on Thursday, October 19. We have apologised for how this issue was poorly communicated and agreed that she will be allowed back on the vintage market.
“We have asked that Ms Gayle only sells vintage and used items, not new items, which is what we ask of all traders who wish to sell items on our vintage market.”