With markets across Northern Ireland feeling the pinch from supermarkets, internet shopping and the bad economy, more than half of the province's councils have assigned staff to work with and for market traders.

That could be a vital lifeline for struggling stallholders, who are usually small business owners – but North Down Borough Council hasn't assigned anyone.

That's according to information recently revealed in the Northern Ireland Assembly, which showed that 17 of Northern Ireland's 26 councils have at least one member staff working with and for traders to ensure they're 'included fully in the local and commercial community'.

Six of those 17 councils have between two and seven people helping out stallholders, while Belfast has a whopping 21 – understandable given the size of and demand for some of city's markets.

Yet even though Bangor is traditionally a market town and the regular Wednesday morning market is seriously struggling, having notoriously been withering away for years, North Down Borough Council hasn't assigned anyone to help out.

By contrast neighbouring Ards Borough Council has two members of staff working with and for traders, and its market is a comparatively well spoken of success.

The Assembly figures also show that North Down Borough Council has no active strategy in place to protect and promote market traders – though in fairness only a handful of councils do.

Belfast and Craigavon have both signed up to a nationwide scheme designed to regulate and protect markets, while Derry and Coleraine have their own strategies in place.

According to the Assembly information, no other council has anything up and running.

North Down Green Party councillor John Barry registered his disappointment with the situation, arguing that the council needs to support Bangor's market.

"There is a clear correlation between those councils that have invested in supporting their markets with dedicated staff and a bespoke strategy and the success of markets in those areas," he said.

"Belfast, for example, has spent time, funding and staff on St George's Market and it is a tremendous success – though that did not happen immediately.

"The lesson here is to see that we, as a council, at least put a strategy in place for the market to grow or develop, as opposed what often seems like our managing its graceful decline."

The Spectator contacted North Down Borough Council offering them the chance to comment on the absence of staff working with market traders and Mr Barry's views.

A spokeswoman insisted that the council 'has always supported the weekly market in Bangor' and that their 'key role' is making sure stallholders have 'a safe environment' in which to trade.

"Every week considerable council manpower is deployed to ensure the council meets this commitment, including organisation of the market pitches and cleaning the market area once trading is over," said the spokeswoman.

"The council also has some responsibility for promoting the market and a few years ago invested £45,000 on canopies to enliven the stalls and make them more attractive to customers."

The spokeswoman added that the council has spent years working with traders, town centre management and Asda in an attempt to track down 'a new place for Bangor market in the commercial life of the town'.

"This is despite [the market's] decline due to extremely difficult trading conditions, a situation facing many similar weekly markets across Northern Ireland," she said. "A report was presented to the council in February advising of the decrease in both the number of traders attending the market each week and the number of shoppers.

"The report highlighted the reasons for this decline - shopping habits have changed and there are much fewer consumers about during the week, the customers who do attend on a regular basis are from the older generation [and there is] fierce competition from local supermarkets.

"It was agreed that the council would continue to support the market and to seek to find ways it could be remodelled to better meet the needs of traders and the local business community. However, it was recognised that there will not be a simple solution to the current pattern of decline."

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