A MUCH-LOVED Newport butchers have announced they are leaving Newport Market after almost 60 years serving the community.

Current owner of A.D Turner and Son Mike Turner says they are moving to Risca due to realising a better opportunity, and a lack of transparency on the current predicament of the market.

They will be moving to the premises currently run by Risca butcher Richard Williams at M Williams and Sons, after a deal was struck between the pair in September.

Mr Turner said proposed new plans for a £12m redevelopment of the market didn’t suit the business, but said he had “nothing against” Newport council over the plans.

In September some of the few traders left at the market spoke of the challenges they were then facing with footfall falling drastically this year.

Now, in a statement on social media, Mr Turner said: “My father started A.D Turner and Sons in 1961 when there were 23 butchers and more than 100 other stallholders in the market.

“It has been a wonderful place to have worked with the hustle and bustle of busy shoppers.

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“We have been fortunate to have had generations of loyal customers and friends, but times change and we are obliged to turn to ventures new.”

Mr Turner says he is excited to move the business to Risca from January 4 2021.

“We are excited to continue serving our existing customers and to welcome new ones in the lovely community of Risca,” he added.

“M Williams Butchers in Risca have been most accommodating and a helping hand in making this possible. We aim to continue the service Richie had provided for more than 20 years to his loyal customers.”

Mr Williams wished Mr Turner all the best for the future at the premises, and said he is not retiring – but “taking a new direction in life”.

He said he has been lost for words at the reaction to his departure, after working at M Williams and Sons for much of his adult life.