Businesses outside the cordon around Kingston’s Ancient Market can open as normal after police and fire investigators completed their work at the site of a blaze that damaged stalls and nearby properties.
Kingston Council’s status update, published at 8.20pm on Tuesday 6 October, said the area restricted by the cordon had been reduced. The change means fewer traders and local businesses are affected, although the statement did not specify how many premises remain inside the cordon or when the remaining restrictions will be lifted.
The update marks a change from the position earlier in the day, when the Market Place remained closed off while enquiries continued and businesses within the restricted area could not trade. The council said the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Brigade investigations at the site were now complete. It did not say that the cause had been established, nor did it announce that all affected parts of the market had reopened.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Tuesday at Market Place, in Kingston upon Thames. The fire brigade said it received the first of six calls at 4.33am and extinguished the fire by 6.08am. Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters attended. Several market stalls were destroyed, while the fascia of a number of properties and a small section of a neighbouring property’s roof were also affected.
Eight people were evacuated from the area by police. No injuries were reported. The fire brigade’s incident report said the cause remained under investigation by the brigade and the police; the council’s later statement confirmed completion of their site investigations, but supplied no conclusion about how the fire started.
Access changes, but restrictions remain
The council’s distinction between premises inside and outside the cordon is important for businesses deciding whether they can resume trading. Only businesses outside the reduced boundary were expressly told they could open as normal. The statement did not say that businesses still within the cordon could trade, or describe any alternative access arrangements for traders whose stalls were damaged.
Nor did the update give a timetable for reopening the whole Market Place. Completion of the site investigations and reduction of the cordon are specific steps in managing access after the fire; they are not confirmation that repair work is complete or that the market has returned to normal. The council said the remaining boundary now affects fewer local businesses and traders, but did not identify individual businesses or quantify the reduction.
The incident damaged several market stalls and businesses, with a range of stalls destroyed and damage extending to the frontage of nearby properties. Those details indicate that the fire’s effects were not confined to the market structures, although the available information does not set out the full extent of repair work required or the financial losses involved.
Kingston’s Ancient Market is a longstanding trading place in the town centre. For traders, the cordon determines whether customers and staff can reach a premises, independently of whether that business itself sustained fire damage. The council update therefore provides a practical, limited easing of disruption: businesses beyond the revised boundary may operate, while access for those remaining within it is still restricted.
The council said it was working with the emergency services on the immediate safety of the area and on recovery of the market. With the cause still unreported and no wider reopening date given, the next steps for traders depend on the continuing access arrangements and assessment of the damaged stalls and buildings.
