EDINBURGH'S Farmers' Market is set to return tomorrow as organisers launch an inquiry into how the popular event ended up operating without a licence.
The weekly event was called off at the last minute last week when it was discovered the licence and insurance had been invalid since July.
Operator Essential Edinburgh has now been granted a temporary licence so the Castle Terrace market can retur
n and has offered to waive the fee for regular stall-holders, as compensation for the cancellation.
Essential Edinburgh took over running the event from the former Edinburgh City Centre Management Company, but the licence was not changed to the new name.
It is understood the problem came to light when five people were injured at an Italian market, run by the same company, three weeks earlier.
They were taken to hospital with minor injuries after stalls blew over in strong winds. Four of them were trapped under the six aluminium frame gazebos which overturned. The market was dismantled after the incident, but it has not yet confirmed whether the Italian market was covered by insurance.
One of the injured women has said she intends to sue the company for compensation.
A spokesman for the company said he believed it was insured, but the matter was being investigated.
He said the administrative issues with the Farmers' Market had now been resolved and all legal, safety and licensing arrangements were fully in place.
He said: "We are delighted that the market will be operating as normal this weekend.
"The market is a popular event and important to the traders who take part. In fact, the event is so successful that we have a long waiting list of quality traders keen to participate.
"We are sorry that the event had to be cancelled last week and we will be giving the traders this week's event free of charge."
But Peter Maclaren, a pig farmer from East Lothian, said many producers were unhappy with the way the problem had been handled.
He said: "The organisation has been a shambles. Essential Edinburgh takes a lot of money from us, but they don't seem to give very much back. It's difficult to believe they took so long to notice they didn't have a licence."
Stall-holders were only told of the cancellation the day before, with some estimating losses of up to £150,000. Thousands of customers turned up as usual, only to find a few producers selling food from the back of their vans.
