Sheila Baudains, who owns Red Triangle Stores, and Des Porée, who owns the Market Kitchen, have been asking for more than two years to have the sheeting replaced by perspex or glass.
Since contacting the JEP this week to raise their concerns, the Infrastructure Department have taken down part of the polythene – but have failed to install any perspex, leaving Ms Baudians’ stock open to the elements.
She said: ‘No-one has been in touch since the polythene was taken down and I didn’t know it was going to happen.
‘They have pulled it down on one side of my store and I have had to put plastic over my stock to stop it getting damaged.
‘Improving the polythene is something we have been talking about for the last two and half years. Nothing has happened and then this week someone came and pulled it down.
‘Some of my Christmas lights have been ruined because they got wet and some lawn feed has got wet as well.’
A spokeswoman for the department said they are looking to sort out the situation and parts of the sheeting had to be removed because it did not comply with health and safety regulations.
She said: ‘We are already in talks with the Planning Department’s historical buildings officer to resolve the situation.’
Sections of the railings outside Ms Baudains and Mr Porée’s stores are still covered by the polythene sheeting but Mr Porée says he wants perspex or glass because the sheeting has been ‘done cheaply’.
Mr Porée, who has owned the Market Kitchen for three years, said: ‘I have invested a lot of money in the shop and we are doing well but it just looks so unsightly outside.
‘The market is a focal point for St Helier and a lot of tourists visit in the summer and it looks terrible which is not great. It just reflects the whole market really badly. Whoever is in charge of it should be ashamed of themselves.
‘The polythene has been done really cheaply and it needs to be replaced. We want it done properly. It’s just as if no-one cares about how the market looks.’
