AN ANCIENT law which protects a livestock market in Abergavenny town centre is to be lifted, clearing the way for Morrisons to build a supermarket in the town.

Welsh local government minister Carl Sargeant announced his decision to lift the Abergavenny Improvement Acts of 1854 to 1871 after consultating with market users and the town council.

The lifting of the order means Monmouthshire council is no longer legally obliged to hold a market in the town centre and can relocate it to Bryngwyn in Raglan, once a new market is built there.

Mr Sargeant said the ancient powers were no longer needed because there are more modern powers available to councils governing livestock markets.

Mr Sargeant’s order, which will be made shortly, will come into force within one month.

The decision has shocked campaign group Keep Abergavenny Livestock Market (KALM) which is calling for the historic market to remain.

KALM spokeswoman Jenny Long said the group was very disappointed, and was in discussion with its legal team about what action to take.

The site has been surrounded by controversy for almost a decade.

In 2009 an £11 million scheme to redevelop the site with developer Henry Boot collapsed. The council blamed the collapse of the scheme, which would have brought Asda to the town, on the economic downturn.

In June last year the council granted planning permission to demolish the cattle market to make way for a 25,000-square-foot Morrisons supermarket and library.

Bob Greenland, cabinet member for modernisation, enterprise and communication, said: “The Abergavenny redevelopment process has been long drawn out but this very welcome news is undoubtedly an important milestone in the overall process.”

He said a replacement market at Bryngwyn would meet the needs of the 21st-century farmer and the current market would not close until the new market opens.

A spokeswoman for Morrisons declined to comment.