MORE than 3,500 people have backed a campaign against plans to ban traffic from a town centre street.
Traders and residents are fighting a proposal to pedestrianise Hassell Street in Newcastle.
Traffic would be blocked between Market Lane and Friars Lane from 10am to 4pm every day as part of Staffordshire County Council plans to improve trade in the town centre.
County council officers will have to give evidence to the authority's transport scrutiny committee because a petition against the plans has exceeded 2,500 signatures.
It could lead to councillors recommending the plans are overturned.
Consultation on the �750,000 scheme has finished but the scrutiny committee's recommendations must be agreed before the plans can be approved by the cabinet.
Campaigners claim the scheme, which is supported by Newcastle Borough Council, will create traffic problems at the Grosvenor and Nelson roundabouts. The new taxi rank site is also said to be too small.
Brian Durber, chairman of the Newcastle branch of the National Market Traders' Federation, believes the plans could actually put off shoppers.
The 63-year-old, from Alsager, said: "Pedestrianisation will be a mistake. There hasn't been a proper consultation.
"If they move the taxis to the High Street, it's going to create a catastrophe down there, with the wagons as well.."
Cross Heath councillor David Nixon, who helped organise the petition, said: "It's good to see so many people objecting because it shows they care about what happens to their town.
"People are against it partly because of how much money it is costing.
"The changes will create gridlock.."
The scheme also involves investment in the "layout and attractiveness" of the market, resulting some stalls being moved.
Darren Taylor, who has run a flower stall at the market for seven years, is one of a number of traders who will have to relocate his pitch if changes go ahead.
The 46-year-old said: "We are anxious about the plans but we don't feel as though our concerns are being listened to.
"Several stalls are being moved, which is not good for business, and we are going to have less space."
The plans aim to boost footfall by cutting out traffic on Hassell Street, which cuts through the middle of the town.
According to an officers' report due to be considered by the scrutiny committee, a third of visitors to the town centre will spend more time in Newcastle than they currently do if the plans go ahead.
Other proposals include closing Hassell Street taxi rank until 6pm each night, moving it to Lower High Street and Ironmarket, while buses would use a new bus lane in Barracks Road.
In a statement, Newcastle Chamber of Trade and Enterprise said: "We are fully committed to assisting in any way we can in the development of the town centre.
"We feel that it is essential that market traders should be happy about the design, dimensions and practicality of the new stalls."
Similar plans for Hassell Street were scrapped in 2006 following a 1,300-name petition against the idea.
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