THE Ely Traders Association – which has fought against plans to introduce parking charges in Ely – now has a liaison officer at the district council to support the city s independent shops. Members of the association met at The Lamb Hotel on Monday to

THE Ely Traders' Association - which has fought against plans to introduce parking charges in Ely - now has a liaison officer at the district council to support the city's independent shops.

Members of the association met at The Lamb Hotel on Monday to invite council officer Alison Callaby to become the group's liaison with the council.

Chairman of the traders' group, Elaine Griffin-Singh, said: "We needed answers about lots of things, like the A-board situation and car parking, and lots of issues about security shutters and people putting things on the pavement for sale.

"What came out of our last meeting was that shopkeepers felt a bit unloved - the council puts its full support behind the market and they should be the same with us because we are permanently here."

She said that membership of the association has swelled since Cambridgeshire County Council seized many small businesses' A-boards in a raid three weeks ago.

"If A-boards turn out to be totally impossible, then we want to find different ways of advertising that are legal," said Mrs Griffin-Singh.

Alison Callaby said: "Liaison with organisations such as the Ely Traders Association and the newly-formed Ely Chamber of Commerce and the district's market town partnerships contributes to our understanding of the challenges and issues facing our retail centres.

"It was good to be part of the debate and I am very much looking forward to continuing this dialogue.