'What is a city without a proper market?'

"He would be heartbroken to see what the market looks like now."

Suzanne Anderson's uncle Ken Bayley owned Gemini Jewellers, based at the Victoria Centre Market in Nottingham city centre, until his death five years ago.

She took over the stall with her cousin, but they, like many others, have been given notice to leave by 31 March after Nottingham City Council said it decided to close the shopping venue, claiming a large number of stallholders had failed to pay rent.

Mrs Anderson said: "If you've got no market in the city centre, what does that say about a place?"

The Victoria Centre Market first opened its shutters on the ground floor of the shopping centre of the same name in 1972, and traders relocated to the upper level in 2008.

The authority confirmed the market's closure in December 2023, citing falling customer numbers and increased costs as some of the reasons, but failed to provide an exit date for traders until a year later.

Since the news, many stalls have quit trading altogether, but the ones that have stayed until the end told the BBC the last few years have been "painful".

Mrs Anderson said Gemini Jewellers, a family business of 80 years located at the entrance to the market, was the "last reminder" of her uncle.

"I still see him sat in that chair, serving customers with a smile on his face," she says.

"I loved coming here back in the day with my parents.

"I remember getting 50p and spending it on food and little knick-knacks from different shops.

"Now, there's nothing left. Watching the demise of this place, knowing how busy it used to be, is so sad.

A handful of customers were seen browsing items at Mrs Anderson's stall, including Shirley Walters, who has been coming to the market since she was five years old.

The 68-year-old said: "Generations of my family have come here, my mum took me and we'd browse the fruit, veg and meat.

"The fresh food too, I miss the smell of the mushy peas... I loved that stall. With a bit of mint sauce, it was such a treat.

"It used to be the highlight of my day - I wonder what's happened to it."

Only Cleaver Meats Ltd remains in the former fresh produce area of the market, surrounded by empty units.

Owner Jack Bradley said the market "had such a great atmosphere" when he opened his butchers 12 years ago.

The 35-year-old said: "But now, why would businesses trade here?

"It is an eyesore in the shopping centre, and the council have mismanaged the situation completely.

"The staff know customers on a name-to-name basis... it's really sad."

Staff at the butchers say that one of the only other places selling fresh produce is Ty's Continental Store at the other side of the market.

Yolanda Small has been working at Ty's, which sells a range of groceries, hair products and fresh Jamaican patties, for the past 36 years.

"When I started, this was a vibrant, happy and busy place," she said.

"Now, I have to close my eyes sometimes when I'm walking around, and we talk about what it used to look like to keep us going."

Ty's is one of the stalls that has not been served notice by the council, and Ms Small says the owners are unsure of when they will officially close.

The 67-year-old said: "We want to stay positive and give our customers good service before we go.

"The elders that have visited us for years keep asking where else they should go.

"What will fill the gap when we're gone? We don't know."

A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: "We appreciate that a number of traders have run business from the market for many years, so the council has attempted to negotiate agreed exits with businesses and offer assistance.

"The deadline for notice period remains 31 March in line with the project deadline; however, some traders will remain in occupation beyond this deadline.

"The council has previously presented traders with the option to run the market, but this was never taken up."

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