It is shortly after 4am in central London and a fleet of white transit vans is pulling into parking bays. Porters bent double against the driving rain are rattling supermarket trolleys to and fro across the cobbles,

The historic site in Britain’s capital has been a market for centuries. The local authority voted this week to close it.

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.