Deal Market will be trading again tomorrow.

Bosses at Deal Town Council, who manage the shopping attraction, have confirmed stalls will open up again at 9am for the first time since March.

At a maximum of 14 stalls, there will be significantly fewer traders, where national social distancing demands have resulted in greater spacing out of pitches in Union Road Car Park.

Most will be food sellers and vendors who can offer take-away services only.

There will be a one-way route that customers must follow and security staff will monitor a single entry and exit point at Duke Street, with a hand sanitising station.

It comes after the council faced criticism for delaying reopening when open air markets got the government go-ahead to open in mid-June.

Most that did open were not managed by local councils which face more challenges over immediacy where they are bound by timely bureaucratic processes.

DTC had responsibility for creating a health and safety plan which had to be agreed by site owners Dover District Council.

At a virtual extraordinary meeting on Monday, July 6, councillors agreed upon a report that detailed the changes that need to be implemented and they vowed to open as soon as possible.

The meeting heard officers were specifically aiming to open last Saturday, July 11, but this was not realised.

This week a council spokesman said it this was because it took a week to get all the agreements signed with the contractors and to give enough notice to parking services.

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent

Read more: All the latest news from Kent