A traditional Mid Sussex town market has been shut down without warning following allegations of unpaid rent.

Regular stallholders at the outdoor market in Burgess Hill were stunned to be told they faced prosecution if they started trading as usual on Saturday.

Many of the market's 12 stallholders were left with thousands of pounds' worth of unsold stock after turning up at the Church Road car park expecting business as usual.

Landowner Mid Sussex District Council said it had been left with no option but to close the 28-year-old market after the company appointed to run it stopped paying the rent.

The council said Countrywide Markets had failed to pay rent or business rates for more than eight months and failed to respond to repeated requests for payment.

Council chief executive Bill Hatton said: "We have expended a huge amount of time trying to persuade and cajole them into paying and we gave them a huge number of chances to rectify the situation but they do not return our calls and in the end we had no option but to terminate their lease.

"We went the extra mile to keep them there for the community of Burgess Hill but we can't go on forever with someone who won't pay."

Mr Hatton said the council had made last-ditch efforts to make alternative arrangements for the traders but said he was not in a position to comment on Saturday's events.

Stallholders are outraged, saying they have paid their rent religiously to Countrywide.

Dave Fisher, a butcher who has traded at the market for 15 years, said: "The first I heard of this was on Thursday night when the Countrywide rep I pay the rent to called me to say not to bother turning up on Saturday as the market was finished. There was no explanation.

"We all turned up to find two council operators standing there to make sure we didn't trade.

"I had over £2,000 of meat on my lorry but they told me if I opened it and started to serve I would be arrested.

"That's a third of my livelihood. I've got a mortgage and kids to feed. Nobody knows what's going on.

"The council says they haven't had rent in eight months - apparently it amounts to £12,000-plus. What we want to know is how could they let this go on for eight months?"

Some angry shoppers headed straight for the council's offices after discovering the market was closed.

One woman said: "The market has been here as long as I can remember. There was no announcement this was going to happen and everyone is very annoyed."

No one at Countrywide, which runs other markets including Newhaven and Crawley, was available for comment.

Burgess Hill market has dwindled in recent years. Several years ago it boasted 150 stalls. Now there are just a dozen.

Controversy has surrounded the siting of the market since a shopping centre was built on its traditional pitch in the town centre. It has moved several times.

Butcher Mr Fisher, 53, added: "We're not a big market but we do a real service to the community.

"We want to trade and are quite happy to take this market over ourselves and pay the rent direct to the council. But no one has ever approached us and told us there is a problem."

Mr Hatton said while the council dealt directly with Countrywide, and not the traders, it would try to help them make alternative arrangements.

He said: "It was with a heavy heart that we took this decision and I do feel sorry for the traders if there has been any inconvenience.

"But really that is not down to the council, it is down to Countrywide."