Trim, who was making a purchase at the Croatian fine food counter said, “It has brought life into Ferndown. It is one of the best things to happen in the precinct.”

Una from Ferndown added, “It’s about time. Keep it up. There’s a superb variety and the positioning is superb. I wish them every success and will be using the market every Friday.”

From parasols, clothes, crockery, hats, gifts and haberdashery to fresh produce, coffee and even sheepskin rugs there was a lot to catch the eye.

Linda from Ferndown said, “It’s amazing – like Ringwood without having to go there!” And local man, Mick Arnold MBE added, “It’s very good.”

Company director, Paul Lewis, of Southern Market Traders, who is running the market and has negotiated for the last three years to get it into Pennys Walk said it was satisfying to see how well the market was doing. He met with Stuart Fleetham, the president of Ferndown Chamber of Commerce at the launch of the market on 28 June and said, “I am happy. The market is only as good as its customers. There will be extra stalls next week. The help from the chamber to get us here has been amazing.”

Stuart added, “You would never normally see this many people in Ferndown on a Friday.”

And it wasn’t just the shoppers and browsers who were positive. The young couple at the Sparklebright stall said, “We’ve had very positive feedback and feel very encouraged. We will be back.”

Stallholder Dan from Barrett and Sons veg stall said, “I wish we’d brought more. I didn’t anticipate it being this busy. We sold out of strawberries sooner than expected.”

And stallholder, Katherine said, “We do all sorts of bits and bobs and household goods. We have had positive feedback. People are very pleased to see the whole market. They have been very supportive.”

Ferndown Friday Market will be held every Friday from 9am-2.30pm.