TRADERS at a popular Romsey market are itching to start selling all their products again as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.

Non-essential shops were finally allowed to reopen on Monday as part of Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown, along with pubs, bars, restaurants and more.

The chairman of Romsey Country Market, Shirley Walker, has revealed sellers will now be able to start trading products other than food as society begins to reopen.

She explained: "As a country market we sell food anyway, so we were allowed to be out in Romsey, but because of the weather at the start of the year we weren't rushing back out there.

"On 23rd March, I pushed hard and said 'let's get back out there again' and see what happens.

"It was absolutely terrific and the market we did on April 3 was even better.

"We will be in the Corn Market on 24 April, but we will have all of our goods because we won't be restricted now and can sell things like crafts and plants, which is my part of the market."

The 60-year-old added the market has "everything from house plants to small trees", so customers will be spoilt for choice.

When asked about how country markets have been affected by the pandemic, Shirley said: "Several country markets have closed for good during coronavirus, because they couldn't get the enthusiasm going, so Romsey is very lucky and we are very happy to be out there."

She added the biggest change to the market is traders want "card payments only because it is a lot safer", while the stalls will be spread out to enable social distancing.

To find out more, visit Romsey Country Market's Facebook page.