Traders whose leases end on Saturday are fearful of an uncertain future ahead of refurbishment works.

Traders at Ridley Road Shopping Village, Dalston, have previously been told that they will face "no significant disturbance" while the site is refurbished.

Earlier this year they were given notices to leave by August 20 by Larochette Real Estate Inc, with the council, which will ultimately take on the shopping centre, saying they will be given new leases in the units being created.

No new leases have yet appeared.

With work due to begin on Saturday, traders say they do not know what is happening.

The developer is silent on the matter but the council says it has been notified the whole centre will be closed for two weeks – including over the bank holiday weekend.

Fatmata, who has sold bedsheets on the market for seven years, said: “I just feel worried, so worried, because I don’t know where I’m standing right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen after August 20 so it just makes me confused.”

Tamara Rabea, of Save Ridley Road, said: “The market is really important as a social space and as a cultural space. It’s a community hub.”

Hackney Council said Larochette had assured it that shopkeepers could continue trading with a 50 per cent rent reduction, except for a two-week period in August when the market would be closed for safety reasons. But traders say this has not been communicated to them.

Hackney Gazette: Traders at Ridley Road Shopping Village had been given a Notice to Quit for August 20Traders at Ridley Road Shopping Village had been given a Notice to Quit for August 20 (Image: Archant)

Cllr Susan Fajana-Thomas, cabinet member for community safety and regulatory services, said: “We would like to reiterate our offer that, once our lease is agreed after the refurbishment is complete, all traders will be guaranteed a similar-sized space in the refurbished indoor market under the council’s ownership.

“We have also received assurance from the current landlord Larochette that they can continue trading from the Shopping Village in the meantime with a 50pc rent reduction."

The council said it is important to keep traders informed and that two dedicated market officers for Ridley Road have been employed to ensure businesses "are not negatively impacted”.