Trench Lane car boot sale to re-open on 6th May

A popular car boot sale that takes place near Bradley Stoke is to re-open for the 2012 season at the beginning of May.

The Trench Lane Boot Sale, held on Sundays on a farmland site opposite the entrance to Woodlands Golf Club [map], will open for the first time this year on Sunday 6th May 2012.

New this year: Entry charge for buyers

The organiser of sale has told The Journal that an entrance charge will be levied for all buyers this year, whether they arrive in a vehicle or on foot. Cars will be charged at £1 and pedestrians 50p each.

The move is understood to be a way of circumventing the need for a local authority street trading licence, following confusion in early 2011 when it appeared the organiser might be denied a licence renewal for that year because of complaints of “heavy handed marshalling” said to have occurred at sales in 2010.

In the event, an administrative blunder by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) meant that the sale’s licence had already been renewed before its Licensing Committee met to consider the complaints.

According to information on SGC’s website, a licence is required by anyone “selling articles … in any road, footway, beach or other area to which the public have access without payment”. A source at the Council confirmed that no licence is necessary in situations where an admission charge is made but added that planning permission might need to be sought in some cases.

As in previous years, the site will open to sellers and buyers at 7am. Trading goes on until around 3pm, although the crowd typically thins after midday. Sellers are charged £7 for a car or £10 for a van. Free parking is provided in adjacent fields.