Council unhappy with noise created by a market trader named ‘Bellows’

A MARKET trader who makes his living by shouting about his produce has been told by a council to keep quiet.

Wayne Bellows has spent his entire working life mastering the traditional market call to attract customers. But now the fourthgeneration fruit and vegetable stallholder claims town council officials gave him a gagging order after receiving a noise complaint.

The 53-year-old said the Bellows family had been peddling their wares in Lymington high street market in the New Forest, Hampshire, in full voice – and without incident – for 80 years. He said: “The whole thing is completely bizarre and absolutely ridiculous – not to mention ironic because of my name.

“There has been a market in Lymington for 800 years. I have been doing this all my life, ever since I was a kid. I’ve never done anything differently and never had any complaints.

“When I got the letter saying I was making too much noise, I didn’t believe it and threw it away. Then the council phoned and told me to stop shouting in the morning and only do it in the afternoon.”

Mr Bellows plans to raise the matter at a Lymington and Pennington Town Council meeting with stallholders at the end of the month, adding: “I must fight this for markets everywhere.”

Defending the council’s actions, the town’s mayor Barry Dunning said it was a “storm in a teacup”.

He said Mr Bellows was “merely notified” of market regulations – which say stallholders must not cause a “nuisance”. He added: “As far as I know, we only asked him to tone it down. I have not heard we asked him to stop.”