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.

Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market in London are set to close and be turned into cultural and housing developments