Official Statement: In response to the unfeeling & unfortunate comments by @cllrnicksmall. When he said it “can’t have been a surprise” to find ourselves evicted. As Mr Small knows, we had been in proper & legal correspondences with the Council up to the week of the forced eviction & locked doors. According to the Council's own legal correspondence, we had been given 6 months of negotiations to respond to an offer within the 30 days given. We responded as requested. There was no qualification to this. To suggest there was would be blatantly untrue. All this was through an officer of the court, our solicitors. Mr Smalls's demeaning and slanted comments about "meaningful" are irrelevant, as he knows well. Our offer was substantial and was actually borne out by both the maths and the preceding legal situation. Mr Small's comments about a figure plucked out of the air of £1.7m is also not substantiated by the math. We put Mr Small to strict proof to confirm his figures that they only relate to the active traders of 2024. We, the active traders of @StJohnsMkt, would like to confirm our shock and horror at finding the Council had brought in a team of heavies, locked us out, taken over our stalls and taken a truly horrific stance based on the preceding situation. We were generally and individually sick to the stomach at what happened to us and our staff and suppliers. To clarify, we were beyond surprised! We are prepared to give written evidence of these facts supported by witness statements from all concerned. We find it both abhorrent and belittling to be treated this way. We also note that this is another sign of the overt racism and misogyny that has been perpetrated upon us continually. We would also report the severe effects on our traders by these unlawful acts have created a myriad of problems, including the effect on our mental health. One trader, who was sensible enough in her depression to talk to the group, was having suicidal thoughts because of the sudden situation imposed on her. Furthermore, to compound things, the Council have sought to impose further fear on the traders by threatening the destruction of all traders' property, despite knowing under the law that we cannot remove such, due to creating an admission of agreement with the eviction by vacating the premises. Apart from this, it is not reasonable to expect small business owners to suddenly gain access to storage space and arrange to move valuable equipment and stock at such short notice. Again, the Council knows full well the nature of the traders; many single parents and females who also happen to be of many ethnic origins are challenged by language issues and, therefore, further disadvantaged. Despite all this Mr Small perpetrated this heinous act in full knowledge of the breach in the Council's own correspondences'. As a result of this, we are continuing with legal actions, which have already been communicated in full to the Council on Friday. Secondly, we are arranging a protest on Wednesday at 12pm and inviting all groups disadvantaged and ignored by this council to join us. Thirdly, it should be noted that Market traders only occupy circa 15% of the space, so only 15% of the running costs are applicable to the traders. 40% is the empty new council offices, and the remaining space was not part of the makeover. Again, these figures are not revealed by the council. Fourthly, as the space cannot be managed by the Council by their own admission, we believe that the Precinct's owners, RivingtonHark, could take back the space and allow St Johns Market to continue operating on a Professional basis; we would welcome this and the opportunity to work with RivingtonHark. Releasing the Council from their failed obligations. SJMTA 18/03/2024