Protesters to march in row over cobble setts

The recently-formed Beverley Action group claims the proposed £2.5m revamp of Saturday Market, which will see the majority of the setts removed, will create “an area that has more in common with a supermarket car park than the centre of an historic town”.

They are calling for people to join them on Saturday at the Market Cross at 10.30am, for an 11am start across Saturday Market and down Toll Gavel to the council’s offices.

Adrian Stokes, from the group, said: “The support for our campaign to protect Beverley has been overwhelming and for that we are very grateful. It is not our intention to stop campaigning until the East Riding Council amend their thinking and take note.”

Setts have been a historic feature of Beverley’s marketplace for years, although there is a dispute over whether they are the original ones.

East Riding Council says the setts were secondhand, including some from Hull Docks, and that they were relaid in Saturday Market in the early 1980s when the then A1079 was being “detrunked”.

A minute from a Humberside County Council meeting in 1981 stated that “approval be given to remove existing granite setts and to replace with suitable reclaimed granite setts stockpiled at various sites in the county”.

The council says it does not believe the setts provide a suitable surface for less able-bodied people and disabled groups were in favour of them being removed. Work is due to start in the New Year. As a compromise, 30 per cent of the setts are to be reused at the entrance of Old Waste, the ends of each row of car park spaces and an area off Ladygate. The others will be put in storage.

The council is consulting on the phasing of the works but is not planning to make further changes to the design of the scheme.