TOWN councillors have been left in the dark over ambitious plans to organise a continental Christmas market in less than two months.

Copeland mayor Mike Starkie wants to follow in the footsteps of Whitehaven by creating an authentic festive market in Millom with stalls selling everything from Christmas trinkets to Bratwurst sausages.

However, Millom town councillor Felicity Wilson admitted that she was "surprised" by Cllr Starkie's proposal as he hadn't consulted other councillors about a festive extravaganza in the town.

She said: "It's surprised me because we've been working on a tight budget to maintain the lights.

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"There are a number of groups who try and bring Christmas cheer and people into our community so it would have been a good idea to have given the town mayor and clerk the heads up.

"I am quite surprised that this initiative is being mentioned towards the end of October because it does take time to set up and organise these things. However, we would welcome this and, if the mayor of Copeland is going to provide us with a Christmas market, we would be very pleased."

Mrs Wilson's husband Doug, who is mayor of the town, backed Cllr Starkie's plans but called for better communication in order to successfully organise the event.

He said: "I would be quite happy for Mike Starkie to support a Christmas market in Millom. It would be better if we knew about it and if there were plans afoot because we would need to organise the closure of the square."

Millom used to have a Christmas market until it was axed in 2013 when South Copeland Tourism Community Interest Company announced that it could no longer fund the event.

Since then, the annual Christmas tree festival and the community organised Winter Wonderland have continued in its place but Cllr Wilson thinks a revival of the market would help to bring more festive cheer to Millom.

He added: "I am sure that if there is financial support people will be happy to come along and hopefully it will encourage people from other areas to come and visit us."

Cllr Starkie admitted that he hadn't spoken to all of the councillors about his idea but had chatted to deputy mayor Angela Dixon about setting up a market over the festive season.

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He said: "It could be too quick a turnaround but we will explore the possibility. If we can get it set up before Christmas that would be ideal but, if not, we could end up doing something in the first quarter of next year.

"We will pull out all the stops. It will be difficult given the timescale but there is a will in Millom to get things done and we will support it here in Copeland."

The idea is set to be debated in a full town council meeting on Wednesday.