SHOPPERS have been urged to have their say over the future of Shipley Indoor Market to help it thrive in the years to come.

HALE (Health Action Local Engagement), which took over running of the Kirkgate site, has set up an online survey about the market. Organisers hope the survey will be the first step towards revitalising it.

Fourteen of the market’s 25 stalls are currently occupied, with officials hoping the survey’s findings will be used to fill up the remaining 11 stalls.

Market staff have also been handing out the survey forms to shoppers in Shipley town centre.

Its current list of stallholders sell items including phones, baby clothes, jewellery and comics. The site also features a cafe.

Ryan Troy, market manger, said: “We have set up the survey to see what people want from Shipley market and give it a new lease of life.

“We have already been told that people would like to see more fresh food stalls in there. We will then look to see what people want and look to add in businesses that they would like.

“We want to bring the market back up. It used to be one of the most thriving parts of Shipley.

“It is a long time for a building to be there and used for the same thing. There has always been a market there.”

The survey is part of HALE, the healthy living charity, plans to revive the town’s privately-owned market by filling its empty stalls with local makers and budding entrepreneurs wanting to test out their products.

Shipley’s shopping centre, including the indoor market, was officially opened by entertainer Bruce Forsyth in April 1960. The Telegraph & Argus reported a “near riot” and “Shipley crush”, which included a policeman saving two children from being trampled underfoot

The T&A reported in February this year that existing traders in Shipley were writing to London Associated Properties, the landlord of the market building, to complain about HALE’s plans for the market, which they claim do not include them.

The critics also claim that HALE has failed to attract any new tenants to the market since it took over - although the charity said it was in talks with many potential stallholders and needed time to “establish new ways of working.”

Shipley’s market survey follows a similar scheme run by Bingley Town Council earlier this month to get residents’ views on giving a boost to its town’s outdoor market.

The deadline for completed Shipley market surveys is Friday, June 30. Go to surveymonkey.com/r/BSGQ8WN to fill in an online version of the survey.