A market at the Oxford Castle site could threaten the future of the markets at Gloucester Green, according to a leading city councillor.

Work is under way to transform Oxford Prison into an 87-bedroom hotel and a heritage centre by the end of 2004.

Oxfordshire County Council and the developer, the Osborne Group, want to include a seven-day-a-week market to be an added attraction.

But at a city council executive board meeting on Monday, December 23, Maureen Christian, executive member for culture, said she did not believe the new market and the existing markets at Gloucester Green could co-exist.

She said: "The open market at Gloucester Green is financially viable but some stallholders are leaving and are difficult to replace."

Referring to the 1601 Charter, which gives the city council a monopoly over the establishment of markets within six miles of Gloucester Green, she said it would be stupid to allow another market within the city.

Councillors agreed to consult traders in Gloucester Green and the Covered Market before granting the county council a free licence to run the new market.

They also agreed to take steps to ensure the viability of existing markets. Russell Crawford, a spokesman for the Market Traders' Committee in Gloucester Green, later said: "We're very concerned about the establishment of a rival market."