THE second phase of a £2.3m project to regenerate Pontypool Indoor Market starts this month, and traders will be open for business as usual while the transformation takes place.

Traders will officially operate from temporary new locations in the market building, from Monday, July 15, when phase two of the work starts.

The transformation work, which is backed by EU funding, will be managed in five phases and completed by July 2014.

During the refurbishment works, the public toilets will be closed. But shoppers can use facilities in the nearby Civic Centre and at the entrance to Pontypool Park.

The market will retain its opening hours of 8am until 2pm on Mondays, 8am until 5pm on Tuesdays to Fridays and 8am to 4pm on Saturdays. These improvements are part of the Pontypool Settlement Area project, which aims to regenerate Pontypool Town Centre and the surrounding neighbourhoods.

The project has received funding from the European Regional Development Fund, Welsh Government’s Targeted Match Fund and Heads of the Valleys Programme and Torfaen County Borough Council Public site tours will take place during the works.

And you can even take a virtual flythrough of the completed market by visiting www.youtube.com/torfaencouncil

You can keep up to date with all the changes happening at the market by visiting www.facebook.com/PontypoolIndoorMarket or by following @PPIndoorMarket on Twitter.