A PUB landlady has thrown a “lifeline” to a centuries old industry which was due to close for good on Friday.

Lynda Leigh, who runs the George and Dragon, was so upset when she heard Flint’s Friday market was closing, she offered traders a space in her pub car park.

“To be honest with you somebody had to do something because it’s been here for years,” said Lynda, who has run the pub for six years.

“I’ve been in Flint for 25 years and we’ve always had a market on a Friday.

“The majority of people in Flint are elderly and they can’t get access to the supermarkets and the cheaper products.

“Those people love coming out on a Friday to chat and socialise with their friends and it’s them I feel sorry for.

“My car park can’t be used anyway on a Friday so I spoke to Paul from the fruit and veg stall and he was quite emotional about it.

“His family have been here for years and I can’t see what the issue would be with the traders going back to the Market Square.

“I’ve told the traders if they want to pull on to the car park they can so from next Friday we will have the butchers here and the fruit and veg man,” she said.

Fruit and veg man Paul Chand, 38, is from Liverpool and his grandfather George Chand started trading in Flint in 1953.

“I started working here for pocket money during the school holidays and it was a lot busier then,” said Paul, who took over from his father sixteen years ago.

“There’s been a lot of publicity saying it’s closing but we’ve been offered a spot in the George and Dragon.

“The pub isn’t far from where we stand now and that’s been a real lifeline and we really appreciate it.

“I have my regular customers and I do enjoy coming to Flint because it’s a real close knit community.

“Moving to the pub car park is good news and three of us will be setting up there from next Friday,” he said.

A petition to keep the market open, which moved to Church Street in 2012, was signed by 200 people, but in March Flintshire council voted to close it.

A council statement said the decision to close the centuries old market was "not taken lightly".

They added: "The council would like to thank traders and customers who have continued to support the market, but with numbers dwindling to the point where it was no longer financially viable, the market’s last day will be September 14."