WITHAM town was whisked back in time to the Victorian era at its annual Dickensian Christmas Market.

Hundreds of residents flocked to the town centre on Saturday to enjoy numerous stalls selling festive food, gifts and goodies.

Stall holders dressed in traditional Victorian clothing to help sell their wares to revellers and there was also a programme of live entertainment throughout the day.

For the first time, the event coincided with the illumination of the town hall's lights and the Christmas tree switch on in Newland Street.

A spokesman for Witham Town Council said: "It went very well - we got a lot of big crowds into the Newlands centre and there was a good variety of stalls.

"There were lots of smiles on people's faces. 

"The town council sold out of everything on our stall.

"We mixed it this year with the switching on of the Christmas tree lights and that was a great success.

"In the past they have been two separate events but we got bigger crowds for the switching on of the lights this year.

"We think we will do them both together again, it was definitely an improvement.

"We would like to thank Dee Halliday and the Christmas Events Working Group for organising it on behalf of the council."