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 City of London Corporation has shelved plans to relocate Smithfield and Billingsgate fish markets to a £1 billion development in Dagenham.

London’s iconic Smithfield Meat Market, a staple of the city’s trading landscape for more than 800 years, is facing permanent closure by 2028, sparking