WESTMINSTER Council has slashed its asking price for a private operator to run Soho’s Berwick Street Market. The council has dropped the amount it wants for the first year from £187,000 to £127,000. The application deadline has also been extended to September 30. Robin Smith, from the Berwick Street Traders Society, said: “We are not surprised as we said all along the way that the maths doesn’t work. The price is probably appetising now, but it doesn’t deal with the lack of infrastructure. We think it is going to lead to chaos.” The council said it responded to calls for a price review from potential operators who they say wanted more “flexibility” to develop the market. It says they have cut the costs by excluding capital costs of electricity bollards in the first year and halving the time “city inspectors” allocate to the market.