FLEETWOOD'S Freeport shopping village is a huge success with Sunday shoppers - but the rest of the town is deserted.

Now Wyre councillors are wrestling with the problem of how to draw visitors from the Freeport into other parts of the town on a Sunday.

One controversial idea is to allow a car boot sale on the open-air section of popular Fleetwood Market.

This summer's experiment to open the market itself, both indoor and outdoor, on a Sunday was judged a failure - the scheme stopped in mid-September after losses for both traders and the council.

Wyre land and properties chairman Councillor David Oxley said: "We want to capitalise on the fact that if you've ever been to the Freeport on a Sunday, it is heaving - we want to pull more of them into the town and get some activity going.

"One idea is to rent the outdoor market-land to a private entrepreneur who could run a car boot sale.

"But that has its critics, particularly from the market traders who fear it could pull down the overall image of Fleetwood Market."

His sub-committee has asked council officers for a report on how Sunday opening could be improved.

This season, he said, many traders did not want to open on a Sunday, and left their stalls wrapped and shuttered, giving shoppers a poor impression.

The loss to the council was £1,300.

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