THE chairman of the Devizes Development Partnership, Alex Duffey, heaved a sigh of relief at the weekend after the town's first Christmas market went with a swing on Friday evening.

Despite a few hiccups, the event drew throngs of people to the town centre.

Following tradition, Father Christmas arrived at The Wharf before switching on the Christmas lights in the Market Place, where there were more than 50 stalls.

Although the DDP had arranged with the police to close off Wine Street, High Street and Sidmouth Street, all the streets were opened later on, after fewer than the expected number of stalls turned up, but Mr Duffey said that it had all worked out for the best.

"The police said it was a good idea to close off the streets while the stalls were being set up. I was slightly disappointed by the smaller number of stalls, but the way people were coming up to me and shaking my hand afterwards made me feel a lot better," he said.

"The shops that joined in and stayed open late were still open at 9pm serving people. The police told me that it was the busiest they had ever seen the town.

"I have heard criticism about the quality of some of the merchandise on the stalls but you can't control that. Hopefully, when the news gets out about this year's success, we will have stallholders from all over the country beating a path to our doors."

Mr Duffey was particularly grateful to the staff of Kennet District Council who helped to set up and dismantle equipment.

He said: "This was our first year and we are on a steep learning curve. Next year it will be even better and I will be talking to Hughmark Ltd, who organised it for us, on how it can be improved."

Street entertainers delighted the visitors, especially the younger ones, with stilt-walking, fire-eating and juggling. A one-man band and an Elvis impersonator were among the free entertainment.

The evening culminated in a firework display, sponsored by the Federation of Small Businesses, which was set off from the former Devizes Motor Company site.

Kennet District Council had received a number of complaints about the street closures and Mr Duffey worked closely with the organisers of the market to move stalls closer together so that the streets could be reopened.

The cost of staging the event was subsidised by funding from the Government's Market and Coastal Towns initiative, administered by the South West Regional Development Agency.

It was one of the 'quick win' projects for which Devizes was awarded £75,000 in October.

Bob Brownlow, the chairman of the Market Towns Initiative Working Party, said: "This has been a very good start. I hope the RDA feels it has got good value for its money."

As well as organising Santa's arrival at the Wharf on Friday, Devizes Lions Club set up its own Christmas fair at the Corn Exchange, which drew hundreds of people on Saturday morning.