Residents are being urged to love their local market and support the traders in the town.

The annual campaign, which runs from May 17 to 31, has launched in Bridport and aims to highlight and champion the street market held twice a week.

The National Association of British Market Authorities’ (NABMA) Love Your Local Market campaign is in its eighth year and is marked in 24 different countries.

It aims to celebrate vibrant street markets, marketplaces and indoor markets and Bridport has been a part of this celebration for around five years to promote its popular market stalls.

Daryl Chambers, Bridport town surveyor, said: “All the town’s that are doing well are the ones that are market towns and they are quite vibrant. They use their market as a tool to make their town more successful.

“Bridport has changed so much over the years but the one thing that has been consistent has been the market.

“Bridport is still one of the most successful markets in the south west and I have been to London to the National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) conference twice to talk about Bridport market and I am now one of the five directors of NABMA, so it is going really well.

“We have got some of the widest pavements in Dorset, so that definitely helps. If it weren’t for those pavements, we would really struggle because there is nowhere else to go through the town.

“What we try to do is, every event that happens embraces the market, rather than competes, it works better, and the market traders get involved, which is the key to it.

“Use your market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, it is such a vibrant thing and it brings people in.”

For more information about Love Your Local Market, visit nabma.com/love-your-local-market-2019