CHANGES are coming in to make it easier for street traders to operate across Barrow town centre during crowd-pulling events.

The town is currently home to a number of streets where trading from the street – be it food or drink – is prohibited by Barrow Council.

However, Barrow’s Business Improvement District has now asked the council  for the rules to be relaxed. The town has four different street designations.

There are licensed streets where markets and stalls can take place, consent streets where street trading can take place but where consent is required, prohibited streets where no trading can take place, and undesignated streets.

Councillors have supported a request that every street in the borough becomes a consent street – where street trading could take place but only with council approval.

That decision now has to be backed by Barrow full council and then go out to consultation for feedback from a number of organisations.

Consent streets would allow for occasional street trading to take place, during events.

A spokesman for Barrow Borough Council said: “This has risen in response to a request from the BID who are looking to carry out a range of different events and activities within Barrow.

“We are sympathetic to what they want to do and are suggesting the main streets in the borough should become consent streets, not prohibited streets.

“Consent would be required but there would be no prohibition of those streets.  We do want to support Barrow BID. Street trading is a really important aspect of the events they want to bring to town and we want to support the BID so it is successful.”

Cllr David Pidduck, the leader of the council, stressed that the changes were part of moving with the times and should help increase footfall into the town centre.

He said: “This really is about supporting the BID and helping them to increase the events taking place in the town centre with the idea of generating footfall for the town centre to help existing retailers.”