Hopes have emerged of reviving a popular boot fair that was scrapped by a council despite being seen as a “lifeline” to many.

For years the popular event attracted hundreds to the Wincheap park and ride car park on Sunday mornings until it was axed in 2021.

It had been temporarily halted by the Covid pandemic before Canterbury City Council (CCC) pulled the plug permanently to allow for a Sunday bus service to run from the site.

Now, however, Wincheap councillor Dane Buckman is spearheading efforts to see a boot fair return to the area.

“I think boot fairs are really important,” he said.

“We've got into this thing of buying online all the time now and that takes away meeting and talking to the people.

“A lot of buying is done without any interaction, so a boot fair offers a social side too, a way to boost mental health.

“And it's so easy in a throw-away world to chuck stuff where someone else might have a use for it, so if we can get people reusing and upcycling, taking it away from landfill - that’s a bonus.”

Cllr Buckman, who is part of the authority’s Labour-Lib Dem administration, says he is conscious of the cost of running a boot fair, but hopes some resources could be shared with the soon-to-be-restored Canterbury market.

“Obviously, [bringing back a boot fair] has got a budget implication,” he said.

“There’s more to it than just opening up a car park and letting people drive in with their vans and cars.

“It's not just doing the boot fair - you've got to have the insurance, and because it's cash, you've got to have security, then you've got to have a clean-up afterwards and have an inspector to make sure you're not selling anything you shouldn’t be.

“But the council are in the process of appointing a market manager and this is something they could undertake.”

Among those dismayed at the original decision to axe the boot fair was stallholder Barry Stone, who previously led calls for it to be reinstated.

He said at the time: “You’ve got lots of people living on council estates, and the boot fair was a sort of lifeline for them.

“There’s people living on the breadline, who buy so many things from the boot fair.

“For some it’s their weekly chance to go out and meet people.”

With the Sunday park and ride service scuppering a return to the boot fair’s original home, Cllr Buckman hopes a different council-owned site could be identified.

The car park at Iceland in Wincheap is among those he says could be considered.

He has launched a petition to bolster his battle and has already attracted support from more than 100 people on CCC’s website.

But council leader Alan Baldock (Lab) says it is too early to make a decision.

“I’m not prepared to make a call at this point but I’m perfectly willing to listen,” he said.

“If we can make it stack up and we can get someone to run it then it could be an option.

“There is a desire for a boot fair in Canterbury but we need to do some work.”