A BLAST of cold air combined with a parking mix-up took a bit of the shine of Ludlow's first Tinsel Tuesday.

The town’s chamber of trade has declared the initiative, that has one week to go, as a success.

Almost all of the stalls on the market were taken on the first week and business in the morning was described as brisk.

“We had a lot of people first thing although it did get quieter in the afternoon which was a bit of a sur prise because there was street parking,” said Tish Dockerty, secretary of Ludlow Chamber of Trade.

But people arriving in the afternoon would not have known that there was free parking or, even if they had heard about it in advance, might have wondered if minds had been changed. There were no signs to say there was no charge after 2pm.

Because of a mix up, alle gedly between Shropshire Council and Ludlow Town Council, a plan to put temporary covers over parking meters was not carried out.

“There was a g reat choice of gift items including local crafts on the market stalls,”

said Ms Dockerty.

“People were able to buy presents that were dif ferent while supporting the local economy at the same time.

There was also excellent food and drink as well as mulled cider and apple juice to keep the cold out.”

The Tinsel Tuesdays, on the first three Tuesdays in December, were introduced by the chamber to replace the late night shopping that has not been a success in recent years.

The town council supported the initiative by donating £600 to help with promotion and Shropshire Council agreed to provide free car parking in the afternoon on the three days, in addition to the reduced fare park and ride operating throughout December.

The two local produce markets, normally on the second and fourth Thursday of each month, moved to the second and third week.

Traders are hoping that the 10-day run-up to Christmas will bring the type of weather that enables people to get out and about.

However, they are encouraged by the fact that the Medieval Fayre that launched the Christmas shopping season was well supported despite torrential rain and flooding in the area.