In a development that will surprise absolutely no one who has ever tried to sell a handmade candle in public, local traders say they have been priced out of this year's Liverpool Christmas market. The culprit? A new operator, Underbelly, and a stall fee that starts at £12,000.

Anthony Grice told Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson that he had been quoted £12,000 to take a stall at the St George's Plateau attraction. Robinson, for his part, said he had met business owners to "understand the challenges and the issues that they might have had this year" so the council could look at different options in future - a sentence that translates roughly to "we hear you, and we will consider this after the event has already happened."

Robinson added that the council had been aware of the price structure being offered to traders by Underbelly when it won the contract to run the event, and that the council would get a share of some of the income. So, to recap: the prices were known, the council gets a cut, and the traders get the bill.

Grice said it felt like local traders' concerns were being "swept under the carpet" during a meeting to discuss the plans. "I asked how many local traders had signed up, and the council didn't know," he said. He added: "These markets should be a chance to showcase the best of what you've got, but not having the 'Scouse soul' there is so annoying."

Jeweller Alex Healy, from Gateacre, rang a BBC Radio Merseyside phone-in to tell Robinson she would not be returning this year, despite having been a trader at previous markets since 2021. "It would cost me in the region of £14,000 to £15,000. I have the smallest hut available, but that price I physically cannot afford it," she said. Healy added that she was acutely aware of the cost-of-living crisis facing her customers: "I don't want to raise my prices. I shouldn't have to."

Robinson said he wanted entrepreneurs like Healy to succeed and invited her to meet him to look at ways the council could support her business. He also defended Underbelly, saying it had won the tender "on quality and price" and had a "track record of delivering these markets successfully in lots of other places across the country." Underbelly has been contacted for comment, presumably while counting its £12,000 stalls.

Carl Cashman, leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition group on the council, was less diplomatic, calling £14,000 "a rip-off." He added: "Small businesses are feeling the pinch at the moment, with rising business rates, inflation, and payroll costs, and consumers spending less. So £14,000 is just a risk too big for them to take, and the market won't be as good for it."

In a statement that could charitably be described as "finding a silver lining," a Liverpool city council spokesperson said local traders would be able to sell artisan goods at a street market on Basnett Street running each Saturday in November, plus at regular and pop-up markets in Lark Lane and Woolton Village in the run-up to Christmas. Because nothing says "Christmas spirit" like being redirected to a side street after being quoted five figures for a hut.