TRADERS are making fresh calls to save Winchester Antiques Market after its proposed demolition moved closer.

It is set to be bulldozed as part of the £100m Silver Hill Renaissance to revamp the area between Friarsgate and The Broadway.

The scheme has been in the pipeline for several years and stalled 12 months ago when the original developer went into administration.

Another firm took the project over a fortnight ago, but traders are keen to stress they are unlikely to close any time soon.

The antiques market has operated for several years with the threat of demolition hanging over it.

Around 4,000 people signed a petition and a further thousand wrote letters to civic chiefs calling for the Victorian building to be saved.

Barbara Cooper runs the Sunflower alternative store, which occupies its first floor.

She said: “Even if they decide we can’t stay in the building, it should still be saved.”

Having lived in London during the 1980s, she added that the current plans for Silver Hill reminded her of Broadwater Farm in Brixton.

“I just hate what they want to build here. We’re just going to have a great big eyesore,” she said.

Ann Whatley, who runs a jewellery business on the ground floor, has traded at the market for 32 years.

“Tearing this down and putting a multi-storey car park in its place would just be awful,” she said.

Jocelyn Young, a partner at The Jay’s Nest antiques business, said they had been affected by the building’s planned demise.

She said: “It’s very difficult because people keep saying ‘we thought you’d closed down’ but we haven’t.”

Denise Stewart moved the Gallery Café out of the market and next door into the Kings Walk arcade earlier this year.

She said trade was improved but her new home still faces demolition in the long term.

She spent nearly £4,000 refitting the unit, and her lease expires in September 2011.

To attract more visitors to the market, traders are printing hundreds of glossy leaflets to advertise their services.

While uncertain how long they will stay open, their building moved a step closer to demolition after a crucial deal this month.

Henderson Global Investors bought the rights to the scheme, which had been held by Thornfield Properties, which hit financial trouble.

The project includes around 300 homes, 35 shops, 500 parking spaces, a medical centre and replacement bus station.

One major obstacle is acquiring all the land, especially as rival developer, London and Henley, has not agreed to sell its part of the site.

As a result, Winchester City Council plans to make a compulsory purchase of the antiques market and Kings Walk arcade.

London and Henley has pledged to fight, and has already tabled its own plan to revamp its property.

However, civic chiefs have snubbed the rival scheme, which would also demolish the antiques market and Kings Walk arcade.

But until the fate of both buildings is decided, traders have pledged to stay open for business.