A first of its kind town centre Christmas event this year will now not be featuring market stalls or road closures.

Earlier this year Westhoughton Town Council announced that it would be hosting a series of festive events around Market Street starting from Friday November 30.

But now plans for market stalls and to pedestrianise Market Street will not be going ahead after just one stall holder was confirmed so far.

Cllr David Wilkinson, of Westhoughton South, said: “We had a meeting at the working party the other day and some of the information was disappointing.

"We've only had one stall confirmed.

“It wasn’t meant to be a political event, it was everybody in the town council trying to make this happen.

The events have been planned for around Market Street in WesthoughtonThe events have been planned for around Market Street in Westhoughton (Image: Newsquest)

“We’re going to be doing this every year so we’re going to learn a lot.”

Cllr Wilkinson said that if they had persisted with trying to close Market Street they would have been billed £1,200 by Bolton Council’s highways team with just one stall setting up.

He said: “That £1,200 can be directed to other projects and we have a long list of projects to be spending on at the minute.”

But the festive events in Westhoughton are still expected to include the Wingates band, new Christmas lights with an outdoor switch on, a choir and a Santa’s grotto.

There are also plans to hold further Christmas events in the years ahead.

Cllr Wilkinson said: “It’s very disappointing but we’ve learned a lot.”

He added: “There’s still a lot of people getting involved in Christmas in various ways.

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“It’s the spirit of it, we’ve got a few things going, obviously the street market isn’t happening but its about building and learning for next time.”

Other Christmas Markets, the most famous of them in Manchester city centre, and similar festive activities will also be taking place elsewhere across the region.

Bolton will also be brining back the Put Big Light On festival, which featured in the town centre for the first time last year.

This year’s festival will feature a bespoke light installation designed to tell “the story of Bolton” which will be displayed in Victoria Square throughout the events.