Fresh doughnuts will be one of the attractions at Bathgate’s relaunched weekly market which reopens for business next Saturday, 10 June.
Organiser Lucy Lawson is making final preparations for the relaunch in the centre of town having secured a lease on the old station car park accessed off Whitburn Road to a site behind the Argos store.
A hot doughnut vendor is one of the latest to sign up to be at the market. The initial lease will see the market operate for five weeks from 9am to 2pm on a Saturday, with space for 60 stalls.
READ MORE: Return of West Lothian market set to revitalise derelict site in town centre
A new feature will be 20 pitches for car boot sales on a first come first served basis. To secure your spot, simply show up on the day between 8 am and 8:30 am. The prices for the car boot pitch are as follows: £10 for a car and £15 for a van or trailer.
Already lined up are traditional stalls including fruit and veg and a butcher but there will also be craft tables as well as food- including doughnuts.
Lucy told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We have seasonal fruit and veg, butchers, fashion, textiles, pet supplies, rugs, fragrances, wax melts and candles, baby clothes and fresh hot doughnuts. The list goes on and on. We even have a gentleman with a key cutting service from his van."
West Lothian Litter Pickers arrived at the site last week to help Lucy clear up what had become a magnet area for anti-social behaviour by teenagers in the town. The litter pickers collected 70 bags of rubbish.
Lucy said: “The impact West Lothian Litter Pickers made is truly remarkable, and I can't thank them enough. The outpouring of kindness and support has been absolutely overwhelming.”
The market has generated huge interest in the year since Lucy first tried to relaunch on another site at Gardner’s Lane in the town. A regular Friday market was a popular mainstay and draw for shoppers to Bathgate at the original horse market site in Whitburn road, which is now occupied by Lidl.
The new plans for the station car park site have generated lots of interest on social media with the market pages numbering over 3,000 fans, with many asking about stalls and other attractions.
One post welcomed the plans saying: “Great news. Thanks for all the time and effort you have put into this. It can be disheartening at the lack of support but your strength is shining through go girl! Bathgate needs this, Bathgate needs anything that will bring it back to life , this could be the start .”
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