Following onsite inspections of Kingston Market after a fire destroyed several of its stalls and nearby shops earlier this week, a number of further safety concerns have been identified.

Thus, the market will be closed again until Sunday, 18 October 2026.

The blaze broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning (6 October) and destroyed several stalls in the Ancient Market as well as nearby businesses such as Lush, Greggs, and Hotter.

(Video Credit: Toni & Guy Kingston)

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) sent four fire engines and around 25 firefighters to tackle the blaze, and the market was cordoned off while the LFB and the Met carried out an investigation.

The services concluded their investigation on Thursday (8 October) with the Met telling Nub News that it is not treating the incident as suspicious and the undamaged parts of the market reopened with traders returning to work as normal.

Construction workers could be seen on site on Thursday, starting work to fix the damaged parts of the market.

LFB later revealed that the fire was caused by a faulty fridge.

In a statement on Thursday, Kingston Council's leader Cllr Andreas Kirsch said: "We're working as hard as we can to get the site safe and secure, and to support traders to get back to work as soon as possible.

"I'm really pleased that the market is reopening and stallholders and businesses not directly impacted by the fire have been able to start trading again.

"Our priority now is to continue to support those affected and help ensure our much-loved market recovers as soon as possible."

However, in a statement on Saturday (10 October), the council revealed that the market has been closed again.

It said: "To allow remedial works to take place, and enable preparations for the upcoming demolition of damaged stalls and clean up of the area, the market will be closed from Saturday 10 October to Sunday 18 October 2026.

"This decision has not been taken lightly and we understand this is further disruption to traders who have already been hugely impacted. However, the closure is essential to ensure the safety of the public and the site.

"Traders will not be liable for pitch fees whilst they are unable to trade. The council and Between the Bridges [the market's new operators] are urgently working through options to help mitigate the loss of earnings for traders.

"While all market stalls will be closed, businesses around the perimeter of the market unaffected by the fire will be open as normal.

Kingston Council's leader, Cllr Andreas Kirsch added: "We understand how hard this is for traders but the safety of everyone who uses the market is our priority and we will take every precaution necessary.

"We've taken the responsible decision to close the market to protect traders and the public. This gives us time to address the additional safety issues at the same time as removing the damaged stalls and beginning clean up of the area.

"We're working with the market operator to support traders. Of course , they won't pay pitch fees while the market is closed and we're urgently working to find temporary locations for those whose stalls were destroyed by the fire.

"We're working as hard as we can to get the market open again safely as soon as possible."

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