BURNLEY flea market is dying ... fast. The once vibrant, bustling Wednesday market, brimming with bargains and antiques, with traders who knew a thing or two about what they were selling and customers jostling to get to the front of the stalls, has long since gone.

And it is not just the flea market, the three-day - Monday, Thursday and Saturday - "open" market on the same site is also in the doldrums.

The question is can either of them, or both, be saved?

On Wednesday afternoon dozens of stalls were empty; either because they had not been taken in the first place, or because traders had packed up and gone home early.

The situation was already bad but it was made worse by an early morning flurry of snow which brought chaos to Burnley as traffic ground to a standstill.

Buyers were conspicuous by their absence.

Jeweller Keith Langfield, of Nelson, said: "I have been on the market for six years and I have never known it so bad. I have not covered my expenses this year. The other week I worked out I would have been better off staying at home and burning £15."

Even in the run-up to Christmas there were vacant stalls on both markets; something unheard of, say, three years ago when queues of "casuals" waited outside the superintendent's office to see what, if anything, was available.

So what has gone wrong? Faced with the inevitable price increase in the new financial year in April, when stallholders on the flea market are anticipating a £2 per stall rise to £l6, traders argue that prices should be drastically slashed.

Barry Metcalfe, of Nelson, who has been on the market for five years says a bad mistake was made when clothes were let on. Said Mr Metcalfe: "It looks like a jumble sale. It would be better if the flea market was split into two sections with clothes in one and bric-a-brac, antiques and collectibles in the other.

"As for the stall rent increasing to £16, that is far too much. With the car park fee that brings you to £19 expenditure before you get started."

A bookseller who has been on the market from the beginning with more than 20 years trading under his belt says: "It's awful. The only way to make this market more attractive is to get the stalls filled and the only way you will do that is by slashing rents.

Max Denton, of Denton's Books, Nelson, continued: "If the rents are increased again it will drive more stallholders away, which will make the market even less attractive to customers and then you are on a downward spiral.

"Stallholders will try elsewhere. You can get a Sunday morning stall for £5 or £6."

Mr Denton points out shopping patterns have changed. He said: "People no longer come into the town centre to pay their gas, electricity and council tax. So much is done by bank direct debits and standing charges. Those in work shop in the out-of-town supermarkets at the weekend. What you are left with in the town centre during the week are people who are unemployed milling about and they have no money."

Mrs Patsy Elderfield has stood the flea market for over 10 years. She said: "It is not a patch on what it used to be.

"There are so many cheap shops in Burnley selling cheap, shoddy goods and this is what local folk seem to want. Even if they see something on the stall which is good quality they still prefer to go to the cheap shop because they think it's cheap."

The demolition of the old car stack and the connecting bridge into the market has been a killer - decimating trade on both markets.

Impulse buying when customers passing through to the car park saw something which caught their eye and bought without hesitation has disappeared.

Said Mrs Elderfield: "People have a long way to walk from the car park to the market. They are just not bothering coming. If something is weighty they won't buy because they are not prepared to carry it. I don't think the new car park serves the market well."

Flea market folk are a resilient, optimistic breed and most are not prepared to throw the towel in yet, particularly when that is how they make their living. But the Great British Public, however, is always convinced that what Eric "The Brain of Burnley" Knowles has in his hands on "Going for a Song" is identical to what has been mouldering on a pantry shelf or more than 20 years.

Every Wednesday some hapless trader has the task of politely explaining why it isn't worth a small fortune.

Can Burnley flea market survive?

The area was picked clean when the best stuff left here years ago along with all the chimney pots in North East Lancashire.

And much as I like Beanie Babes they will never compare with a nice bit of Belleek, if only you could get hold of it.

Burnley markets manager John Heys agreed lettings on the markets were down on this time last year but were still within anticipated levels for the post-Christmas winter period, traditionally the quietest for markets.

He said that markets generally, not just in Burnley, were struggling in a very competitive retail market and developments such as wider Sunday trading and out-of-town shopping centres had had an impact.

But he felt that Burnley was, if anything, bucking the trend and the last two weeks had seen a slight upturn in demand.

"I would expect things to pick up as the weather improves," he added.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.