One of the longest-running farmers markets in Kent is under threat because of new parking restrictions.

West Malling farmers market operates on the fourth Sunday of every month and has done so for 25 years.

But earlier this year, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council announced new parking charges and restrictions for West Malling, which traders fear will make it impossible for them to operate.

From Monday (March 3), the borough began imposing a maximum stay of four hours in all of West Malling’s car parks and on the 93 on-street parking places.

Trudy Dean is the chairman of West Malling Parish Council as well as being a local ward borough councillor. She said: "Although the farmers market itself opens for only four hours, between 9.30am and 1.30pm, stallholders are there from 7am to 3pm to allow for setting up and clearing the site.

“If they can only have four hours parking, they can't open."

The borough council has suggested that stallholders can park within the High Street market area which is closed to traffic.

However, that would only provide room for around half the stalls that the market currently is offering, and limiting the number might not bring in enough stall fees to meet the high costs of the road closure.

Last Thursday, Cllr Dean, along with Cllrs Roger Round and Michelle Tatton - all Lib Dems - handed in a petition signed by 2,401 people calling for the four-hour maximum stay to be lifted.

The petition was presented to Cllr Chris Brown, the Deputy Mayor.

West Malling is one of only two places in the borough, where a four-hour limit is imposed. Everywhere else, it is possible to purchase up to 23 hours’ parking, which stallholders would be willing to do, if it enabled them to continue trading.

Cllr Dean said: "The same stallholders can buy the extra parking hours they need to trade at the Tonbridge Farmers' Market, but not at West Malling Farmers' Market.

“That seems very unfair."

Under its constitution, Tonbridge and Malling council must hold a debate on any issue that is the subject of a petition signed by 1,500 or more residents.

Because the West Malling petition passed the threshold, there will now be a debate at the cabinet meeting on April 1.

However, the next farmers market is due on Sunday, March 23, and it is unknown what will happen then.

The four-hour limit was one of a raft of measures announced by the borough council last April, that also saw the introduction of parking charges for the first time in Aylesford and Larkfield. It also extended the charging period to 8pm and added fees for the first time for Sunday parking.

The borough held a public consultation on its plans for West Malling that revealed that 94% of people were opoposed to the changes - but the borough went ahead anyway, with the council leader, Cllr Matt Boughton (Con), observing at the time that “You don’t see turkeys voting for Christmas, and people don’t necessarily want to pay more.”