After some 900 years, the iconic Smithfield market will close its doors in 2028 with the future of the traders uncertain

The City of London Corporation has shelved plans to relocate Smithfield and Billingsgate fish markets to a £1 billion development in Dagenham. | ITV News London

London's historic Smithfield meat market is at risk of being closed for good at a vote in the City of London. The City of London Corporation, which owns and operates the site, has previously planned to relocate the market and Billingsgate fish market to a new £1 billion development in Dagenham.

There has been a meat market on the site for more than eight centuries, but after 2028 that is set to change after a corporation vote put an end to its ownership.

The Smithfield site is particularly historic. Meat has been traded from the same spot since the 14th century. Billingsgate boasts similar antiquity, but its ancient home near London Bridge was closed in 1982 in favour of a larger site in the Docklands.

Smithfield Market is located in the City of London, near the Barbican, St Paul's Cathedral and St Bartholomew's Hospital, and dates back to the 10th century

The oldest meat and fish markets in London, which date back 850 years, are facing permanent closure from 2028. Smithfield meat market, near St Paul's Cathedral, and Billingsgate fish market in Canary Wharf are to be closed after the City of London Corporation voted to withdraw support for them.

The City Corporation had previously planned to relocate Smithfield and Billingsgate fish market to a new site in Dagenham. The corporation is recommending the market is shut down and that traders are offered compensation payments.

Billingsgate Fish Market, another historic market that has operated since 1327, also faces an uncertain future. Originally located on Lower Thames Street, it moved to its current site in Poplar in 1982. The site has been earmarked for housing development following its closure.

The UK local authority managing London’s “Square Mile” financial district voted to close the city’s historic wholesale meat market from 2028, ending trading dating back to the 1100s. Smithfield Market,

Smithfield Market, one of London’s oldest trading sites, is set to close after nearly 900 years of operation. This decision, made by the City of London Corporation, marks the end of a chapter for a historic institution central to the capital’s meat trade for centuries.