An outdoor market which hoped to move before Christmas to cash in on seasonal shopping will have to wait until the new year.

Burgess Hill market traders have applied to move from their present spot in the car park in Church Road to Church Walk by relying on planning laws which allow a temporary development for a certain number of days each year without having to apply for permission.

However, Mid Sussex District Council refused to let market operators Countrywide Markets move without making a full application.

The market has already moved once from its previous site, at the Cyprus Road car park last June, but since then the numbers of traders and shoppers has dwindled.

The market has now applied for planning permission to get stalls moved to take advantage of a recent relaxing of the street trading laws in the area.

Burgess Hill town councillors recommended the plan for refusal earlier this week.

The chairman of the town council, Gill Balsdon, said the committee that discussed the application felt traders had not considered the move's practicalities.

The application is to be decided by the district council in the new year.