Councillors are looking at bringing in experts to sort out their bickering Dartmouth market traders and hammer out a set of rules they can finally enforce.

The various groups of market shopkeepers and market stallholders have been arguing among themselves over pitches and other issues for years, the council, which owns the town centre market complex, has been told.

The council itself is fed up with stallholders cherry-picking the market days they decide to show up on and the shopkeepers operating reduced opening hours.

And there are also concerns about who has the right to park on the market car park on the Tuesday and Friday market days.

Now the councillors want to bring in market experts from the National Association of British Market Authorities to help advise them on how the town's money-spinning market should be run and marketed – including the possibility of launching extra market days.

The move follows a meeting between leading councillors and market traders a fortnight ago.

Former market shopkeeper and town councillor Andy Carter said the meeting had revealed 'conflicts' between the traders who operate from the market. He said: 'The whole thing needs completely sorting out.'

'There are those that think they have been there longer and can stomp over others and push them out of the way. It's a mess.'

Meanwhile, Cllr Frances Hawke told members of the town corporate property committee – which runs the market and looks after other town council assets – he agreed the need to sort out a set of rules to run the market: 'All sorts of practices have gone on in days gone by.'

He said the traders needed to hear a no-nonsense message on how the market is going to be run in the future.

'We need to put a package together and tell them all from a certain date that these are the new rules – this is the way it is going to be run, this is what we are going to charge and this is how we are going to charge,' he said.

The market brings in an annual income of more than £70,000 for the town council in rents and other fees.

A report to committee, which is now recommending the market authorities should be called in for advice, explained: 'There has, over many years, been anomalies regarding the allocation of space by stallholders in the market which has included the size of the pitches and the use of additional tables.'

The report suggested the introduction of two tiered charging – one for regular stallholders who trade all year and a higher rate for those to turn up seasonally.

And it also suggests that only market traders with specially issued passes should be allowed to park on the market car park on market days.