A POPULAR food fair made a welcome one-off return on Saturday.

The Thornbury Food Fairs, quarterly events run by the town’s Chamber of Commerce, were cancelled in July due to lack of parking.

But due to popular demand from residents and stallholders, the Chamber held a Christmas fair to assess whether the continuation of the event was viable.

“It was amazing,” said Penny Skinner from the Chamber of Commerce.

“A huge number of people came and we had just short of 60 stall holders, selling a mix of food and gifts.

“A lot of the stall holders are the same ones who worked at our food fairs before the closure.

“It was so lovely to see them back - they love coming to Thornbury and we love having them here.

“I think the market works so well partly because of its location in the heart of town.

“It’s a residential area, but there’s a real feeling of goodwill about the event and everyone gave over their parking spaces for this to happen.

“There was such a fantastic atmosphere. People were chatting, meeting their neighbours, talking to stall holders. There’s something quite unique about the market.”