BIRMINGHAM John Bull campaigner and mayoral candidate Ray Egan highlighted moves to save the city’s wholesale markets by going right to the top – and sitting astride the area’s famous gantry.

The former policeman and arch-patriot dressed as Santa Claus to draw attention to the drive – backed by the Birmingham Mail – to safeguard the future of the famous stalls.

Birmingham City Council wants stallholders to move from the 35-year-old facility to a new purpose-built site because it urgently needs refurbishment.

But an £80 million relocation deal involving the authority and the now-defunct Advantage West Midlands development agency collapsed in June.

Now the council will only provide help to find a new site and private investors – but no cash.

Mr Egan said: “We have a vibrancy here that is special. “It seems as if the council just wants loads of posh shops and can’t be bothered about the market.”