A PEACE protester refused to leave Tavistock Pannier Market on Saturday after officials asked him to vacate the building.
Dave McCaffrey, from Gunnislake, and two other people walked around inside the market bearing anti-war banners in protest at the recent refusal to allow Tavistock Peace Action Group to have a stall in the market.
But acting market reeve Edwin Carruthers and his assistant, Michael Souttar, asked the group to leave after traders raised objections to their protest.
Mr Carruthers said their behaviour was disrupting business and causing a nuisance to customers.
He said: ?They were handing out leaflets at the door and we had so many complaints from people saying they were forcing their opinions on them in a quite aggressive manner.
?They were causing a huge disruption to customers and stall owners and I had to politely ask them to leave.?
Mr McCaffrey, who is not a member of the peace action group, said he refused to leave because it was his democratic right to protest.
?I told them I was an individual in a democratic country, and I have every right to walk around holding the banners,? he said. ?They threatened to call the police and I said ?fine!? I then did another circuit of the market and left of my own accord.
?I cannot understand why they banned the peace action group?s stall on political grounds when they have allowed a Conservative spokesman to use the market in the past.?
Town Clerk Roger Howard said Mr Carruthers had acted correctly in asking the protesters to leave the market.
He said: ?The market is a trading organisation where people are trying to make a living. The last thing traders want is to have people who are spending money driven away.?