THE organisers of Salisbury’s popular Christmas Market are offering independent shops in the city special rates to take part in this year’s event.

A number of chalets in Queen Street have been reserved for use only by Salisbury businesses and can be rented for £275 compared to the normal charge of £525.

Steph Shearing, the BID Events Coordinator said: “We wanted to make it easy for Salisbury’s smaller shops to take part in and benefit from the Christmas Market.

"We have, therefore, reduced the minimum rental period to five days and have also cut the daily cost by up to £20. We think that this will make the Christmas Market affordable to many more businesses.”

Each five day rental period will include a number of key trading days, when footfall and visitor spending are at their highest.

Last year visitors to the Christmas Market spent £3.5million over the 24 day period. This year’s market, which runs from Thursday, November 26 to Sunday, December 20, will have around 100 traders taking part.

The chalets reserved for Salisbury Independent shops are available on a first come first served basis. Anyone interested in finding out more about this special deal is asked to contact Steph Shearing on 07436 266 560 or email steph@salisburybid.co.uk