The oldest meat and fish markets in London, which date back 850 years, are facing permanent closure from 2028.
Smithfield meat market, near St Paul’s Cathedral, and Billingsgate fish market in Canary Wharf are to be closed after the City of London Corporation voted to withdraw support for them.
The Corporation said it would now work with traders to help them find alternative premises.
Traders, who have been offered compensation, have said the move means a London tradition will be lost, with one saying “it’s all about the money now”.
Smithfield is the largest wholesale meat market in the UK and one of the biggest in Europe. The current iteration of the market has been trading at the site since the 1860s. Prior to that it was a livestock market, which dated back to the medieval period.
Work has already begun on turning this site into a new cultural and commercial hub, which includes the new London Museum.
Billingsgate is the largest inland fish market in the UK, with an average of 25,000 tonnes of fish and fish products sold there every year. The original market first traded in Lower Thames Street in the City in 1327, before moving to its current site in Poplar, east London, in 1982.
It provides fish to businesses including fishmongers, fish-and-chip shops, delicatessens and restaurants.
This site has now been earmarked to provide thousands of new homes.
