LONG-running efforts to move Christchurch's weekly market into the High Street are to finally bear fruit next year.

The scores of stalls currently centred in the Bank Close car park on Mondays will be switched to the town's main road, possibly as early as April. Borough councillors and officers see the relocation as a crucial step to bring new shoppers into the Christchurch's struggling town centre, and free up badly needed car parking spaces at the same time.

A one-off weekend market based in Saxon Square and High Street for the borough's Millennium Food and Wine Festival in May drew huge crowds, and increased calls for a permanent arrangement.

The market itself is thriving under new management, with a 50 per cent increase in stalls, and borough planning director Nigel Davies said trader numbers could hit the 120 mark by the time the move takes place.

"The relocation of the market into High Street should add to the town centre vitality, both in economic and visual terms," he told the council's planning and environment committee. "Christchurch is a market town without a visible market. Hopefully, we can move on quickly and, with a bit of luck, we should have the new market established in High Street by late Spring/early Summer."