BARNARD Castle Farmers’ Market, one of the most popular in the North East, will return to the town’s cobbles on Saturday, June 6, after an absence of two months, following the easing of lockdown restrictions.
Measures have been put in place to ensure there is plenty of room for customers to maintain a safe distance and there will be hand washing facilities as well as sanitizer available.
Carol Parker, from Barnard Castle Farmers’ Market, said: “We only cancelled two markets during the lockdown and we did manage to do an indoor one at The Witham in March before the lockdown came into force.”
She added: “We will have only half the normal allocation of stalls, though we will be putting up all of the stalls as it will be easier because of the ratcheting positions.
“It means there will be an eight-feet space between each stall so plenty of room for people to safe distance if they need to queue.
“It has been a natural process for those who will be attending as many of our regulars are still self isolating and others have adapted their business selling online. But there will be cheese, baking, meat and homemade sauces but only one supplier of each.”
Other safety measures will see customers encouraged to use contactless payment wherever possible.
Ms Parker added: “We have done a risk assessment and have spoken with Durham County Council and the police just to let them know we are running and would love to see our regular local customers back.
“As much as the town has been in the news recently we want this to be for the locals and don’t want to encourage people from other regions to visit. This will be a learning experience for us and we want to be as flexible as possible for customers and will keep in touch.”
The market will be open from 9am until 2pm, a slight reduction on normal trading hours to allow for stalls to be cleaned.
