A Hampshire town is just days from starting its festive celebrations.

Romsey’s annual Christmas light switch-on, will see hundreds of people descend on the town this Saturday.

The Winter Procession starts from Crosfield Hall car park at 6.15pm.

Once the procession reaches The Market Place at 6.30pm the Xmas lights will be switch on

 Next month Santa’s grotto, located in Bradbeers, will be officially oened on December 9.

The same evening, a lantern parade will proceed around the town centre from 5.30pm, coinciding with Romsey’s late night shopping event.

Special market stalls and fairground rides will be operating until 8.30pm, with many shops staying open late as well.

A carol concert will also be taking place in Market Square on December 19 at 6.45pm.

But, for those who would rather get their shopping done in the daylight, there is even more reason to stay in Romsey this Christmas, as shoppers are being treated to free parking.

Test Valley council is offering locals and visitors alike the chance to spend more time stocking up by treating them to an hour’s free parking this December.

Visitors will be able to make use of the offer on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from December 5 to 21, but will need to purchase a minimum of one hour’s parking in any council car park to qualify.

They will then need to display the Christmas voucher on their dashboard alongside a valid pay and display ticket to get another hour free. The voucher is valid with cash or Ringo mobile app payment.

Planning policy and transport portfolio holder, Cllr Martin Hatley, said: “The car park voucher scheme is always popular with our residents.

“Our towns have a lot of fantastic independent shops as well as larger retailers, and the scheme helps to boost the local economy by encouraging shoppers to stay for longer.

“Our car parks continue to be free on Sundays and bank holidays throughout the year, which is another great incentive to visit and shop in our towns.”

The council’s car parks continue to be free to use after 4pm, meaning during the offer period visitors will be able to stay in town from 2pm until late for just £1.

Shoppers can collect vouchers from the former magistrate’s court or participating retailers.

Alternatively, vouchers can be downloaded from the council’s website, testvalley.gov.uk or cut out from the autumn issue of Test Valley News sent to all households at the end of October.

Retailers can contact town centre manager, Mark Edgerley, to collect vouchers to hand out to their customers.

Scroll through the gallery above to see pictures of last year's lights.