A BUSINESSMAN has described his vision for Hereford's Buttermarket which in the future will have stalls across three floors.

Darren Sockett has owned the city centre building for the past year after buying it from Herefordshire Council.

He has been working on bringing the building up-to-scratch and has started revamping the market stalls with wooden, traditional structures and canopies.

Mr Sockett, 50, said: "I have lived in Hereford all of my life. I am trying to get the Buttermarket back to how it should be - a traditional market."

He is introducing further food stalls, which includes burgers and Caribbean food, and working hard to fill every stall with the right businesses.

As well as giving the stalls a fresh look, he is going to revamp the hall's ceiling, and is working on opening up the basement and the second floor.

There is a second floor which has separate wooden units which Mr Sockett envisages will be used as pop-ups by people selling arts and crafts.

He would also like to work with local colleges to invite students to sell their work.

The second floor is to the right hand side of the market when walking in from Maylord Street, with the staircase near to Tiffany's Cafe.

Mr Sockett is currently clearing out this second floor, which also has a large roof area above it, with the potential to use this space too.

And there is also a warren of corridors with separate sections in the basement. This has been used for storage and fridges and Mr Sockett wants to have shops selling antiques based here.

He said: "We are here to support local businesses and start-up businesses."

Mr Sockett owns Hereford company The Pipe Corporation Ltd and also works in property.

The dad-of-six said: "I just want to give something back and give it a boost really. I used to come in here as a little boy. I saw it needed someone to grab it and bring it back."