England's oldest Christmas market scrapped by 'Scrooge' council citing 'safety'

04 December 2023 , 10:07

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Photos of Lincoln's previous Christmas events showed people tightly packed together (Image: LDRS)

One of England’s oldest and most popular Christmas markets has been scrapped due to health and safety issues.

The four-day festive celebration in Lincoln saw 320,000 people flock to it last year as it generated around £15 million for the city’s economy. But the spectacle will not go ahead this year as officials said its surging popularity had become a “risk to public safety”.

A safety review of the event, which has been running since 1982, saw police, fire and ambulance services work with the council to assess the risks of having such a big crowd. After consultations, the authorities decided crowds were too big and there was no safe alternative that was “practically or financially feasible”.

Authorities tried to address the overcrowding but couldn't come up with a solution (Hull Live)

Ric Metcalfe, leader of the Labour-run authority, said: "We understand some people's disappointment that Lincoln Christmas Market is no more. However, we simply could not continue delivering an event that has been deemed a significant risk to public safety.” The council insisted that "so many people in a small area can be uncomfortable" and rejected a motion put forward by opposition councillors calling for the market's return after it was debated at a meeting of the full council last week.

It sparked fury amongst local businesses and other politicians with Lincoln's Tory MP Karl McCartney comparing the decision to "Ebenezer Scrooge" and fuming: “It's absolutely outrageous, it is cultural and economic vandalism. The financial pain this will inflict on local businesses and charities will be catastrophic. It is real-life nightmare before Christmas stuff.”

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The market’s budget is set to be spent on a series of other festive celebrations including an ice sculpture trail, stilt firewalkers, and giant inflatable monsters. Ric Metcalfe added: “The increasing visitor numbers predicted for future years would have created an unsafe event, with potentially serious implications. We’d had many cases of adverse reaction around overcrowding, and our reputation was starting to suffer. No amount of money could make the very constrained Uphill area safe for the predicted increase in crowds and markets.”

Jake Loader