The first Sunday open air market to be held at Newport's Belle Vue park in 2021 was this afternoon shut down by police.
The outdoor event, billed as being 'compliant with current Covid trading regulations and only selling items classified as essential, such as food and healthcare' was brought to a close at around 1pm when officers attended the site following a report of overcrowding.
But the market's organiser said that other than a brief bottleneck near the entrance, caused by queues for a few of the more popular stalls, everyone present was abiding by social distancing rules.
"We usually have the market every month, but this was the first one this year," said Jan Walsh, who also runs the park's tea rooms.
"Everything had gone through Trading Standards and Newport City Council, so there shouldn't have been any problems. However, there ended up being a bit of a queue for a few of the stalls outside the tea rooms. And, because those people had to space out, it caused a bit of a bottleneck and probably made things look worse than they were."
Jan added that the market had been a popular fixture at the park for the last decade.
"The park is well used everyday, and with nearby Tredegar House closed at the moment, we've had even more people than usual coming here to exercise. I think the police just happened to turn up at our busiest time of day. It's heartbreaking really because lot of people were looking forward to this."
Neil Jones, who runs the Kitchen Garden Plant Centre and had a stall at Belle Vue today, described it as frustrating for all the traders desperate to get back to business.
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"We do events all over Wales and we only pick Covid secure ones," he said.
"It was outside, there was hand gel available, folk were keeping their distance and being respectful. I can't understand it - the organisation couldn't have been better. Everyone was happy to be there, we were happy to be there. People are just trying to get on with life, get back to normal and make a couple of quid. Provided the rules are being adhered to, what harm is being done?"
Gwent Police have been contacted for comment.
