Farmers are to take on supermarkets with their own USA-style outdoor market in Mid Sussex in the next few months.

They hope to sell produce direct to a population of more than 100,000 in the Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath and East Grinstead area instead of taking lower profit margins by selling to large stores.

Work is under way to find a suitable site to make Mid Sussex the latest community in the county to host a farmers' market.

Pilot markets are expected to be staged by Mid Sussex Council in the late spring or early summer and the South of England Agricultural Centre at Ardingly has emerged as a possible site.

Others will be investigated before a final decision is taken by Mid Sussex councillors.

The idea of the markets originated in the USA, where more than 20,000 farmers now sell their own goods direct to the public.

Everything that is sold must be locally grown or made.

Another condition is that everything a traders sells on his stall must be his or her own produce.

The market would sell produce such as vegetables, fruit, meat, meat products such as pies, cheese, seafood, wines, beers, and juices, flowers, and bakery products.

Traders would come from a radius of about 40 miles and there would be up to 40 stalls.

The markets are likely to run from May to October and will be held weekly, two-weekly, or monthly, for up to six hours a day.

One of the key factors planners will be considering will be access to the markets by public transport, which might give towns such as Burgess Hill or Haywards Heath the edge over isolated Ardingly.

At Haywards Heath the car park at Beechurst, which is owned by Mid Sussex Council, is one possibility.

In Burgess Hill the council-owned Cyprus Road car park is another site being considered.

Mid Sussex Council says that town and parish councils will be consulted this year on the proposals.

Mid Sussex NFU branch group secretary Annie Payne said: "We are very pro farmers' markets. They give the farmer the opportunity to get closer to the market place and cut out the middle man. We have a lot of problems with supermarkets controlling food markets because they have so much buying power. Anything to market our produce benefits us."

Haywards Heath once had a large livestock market. The site was sold for a Sainsbury's supermarket.

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