The challenges facing Ashford town centre are - like anywhere in Kent - blamed on a variety of factors.

The creation of the ring-road, the pedestrianisation of the high street, and the opening of the Designer Outlet always form part of the conversation.

But while the tented mall may have taken some attention away from the town, coupled with the rise in online shopping, the relocation of Ashford cattle market almost three decades ago is still seen as another key moment.

Based in Elwick Road for almost 150 years - where the £75m Elwick Place leisure complex now sits - the market was widely regarded as a jewel in the crown of the town centre.

Weekly livestock sales and a Saturday stall area attracted so much footfall that many feel its closure to allow for construction of the Channel Tunnel rail link pulled the heart out of Ashford.

“It was immensely popular and always thriving and bustling,” says town historian Steve Salter.

“The stall market was like a concert and a hive of activity with people being unable to get through.

“It made the town incredibly busy because it spilled onto the high street and Bank Street.”

Ashford town centre’s vacancy rate currently stands at 18% - above the national average of 14% - with 64 units shuttered.

But Mr Salter, who lives in Kennington, thinks keeping the market in its former home would have led to better statistics.

Since 1998, the Hobbs Parker company has operated the market from Orbital Park in Sevington, two miles out of the town centre.

“Its relocation was the first noticeable step in the decline of the town centre,” Mr Salter says.

“You could buy things like leather goods and cleaning equipment so there was a real nice buzz about that market which hasn’t been replicated anywhere in Ashford - even the few stalls we have in the high street now.

“Although the market still exists on the outskirts, many feel moving it was a mistake.”

Ashford’s history as a market town began in 1243, when it was first granted a charter by Henry III, and it had become one of Kent’s most important by the 1600s.

Initially based in Middle Row and the high street, the Ashford Cattle Market Company Ltd (ACMC) was formed when it relocated to Elwick Road in 1856.

Hobbs Parker now manages ACMC, which today stands as the oldest-surviving registered company in England and Wales.

Former company manager Roger Lightfoot says moving the cattle market out of the town centre has been “enormously successful”.

He says about 200 people work at the Orbital Park site, while up to 200,000 animals are sold during the year, making it a “crucial piece of farming infrastructure” at what is the only one of its kind in Kent.

“The move has been less successful for the stall market, but having said that during the 10 years I was at Hobbs Parker while we were in town, the decline of the town centre had been significant already,” Mr Lightfoot said.

“In 1998, about 60% of stalls at the market had already been lost.

“I think the fundamental reason for that was the change of shopping habits, particularly supermarkets moving out of town, plus online shopping and the general move from retail in the town to places like the outlet - which was another nail in the coffin.

“Ashford Borough Council (ABC) has tried to improve the fortunes of the market in the high street since the move to Orbital Park, but that has still proven unsuccessful.

“So when you look back they were wonderful times, but it’s just not what life is nowadays.”

Following Hobbs Parker’s move, the Elwick Road plot stood derelict for decades before the Elwick Place complex opened in 2018.

But the ABC-owned site has faced a number of setbacks, including the withdrawal of Picturehouse from the six-screen cinema and loss of numerous tenants including Macknade.

ABC - run by an Ashford Independents/Green Party coalition - took over the cinema last year, and it is now running under The Ashford Cinema name.

But shoppers KentOnline has spoken to say the town centre has “never felt the same” since the closure of the market.

Jemmett Road’s Christine Lowry, 81, says she regularly reminisces about the site.

“I think about it a lot as I used to take my children up there,” the former teacher says.

“Ashford was just so busy because you could do proper shopping there.

“Browns was the first stall on the right-hand side selling fruit and vegetables when you went through the gates.

“Opposite there was a woman called Pauline who sold eggs, so it wasn’t just a nice place to visit but an important one to get your food fresh and in one place.

“It’s never been replaced.”

Shadoxhurst’s Pam Cairns says she spent a lot of time at the market while growing up.

She explained: “My dad would go every week as we owned a pig farm at the time during the 1980s - he and my grandmother would have been in the market and watching the prices having known all the butchers.

“I had a Saturday job at Woolworths in the late 1960s and early 1970s so went to the Saturday market to see the clothes which had stalls of everything.

“That felt like a proper market, whereas I don’t even really think about going to the Orbital Park one now - partly because of where it is.

“The whole of that area where the cinema is looks and feels so different now.”

ABC says its Elwick Place development “gives a few nods to the past”, including the original market gates between the cinema and Travelodge hotel.

And they confirmed how plans are underway to improve the current market in Ashford high street, including the Makers’ Market held on the first Saturday of every month.

“Following calls to strengthen market activity in Ashford town centre last year, a members’ working group was set up by ABC that recommended supporting the expansion of the current Makers’ Market on the first Saturday of each month, as well as to introduce permanent pitches in both the Lower and Upper High Street,” the spokesman said.

“A report to cabinet in September showed the positive growth of the Makers’ Market with support from ABC.

“We are now taking forward plans to implement permanent pitches following the changes to the way the streets are licensed to support this.”

The spokesman added how construction of the rail link has had a “hugely beneficial impact on the town’s fortunes”.