Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, whose late mother Anna was Italian, popped along to support the Italian Market, which took place in Rayleigh High Street last Saturday.
The event, which was organised by Rayleigh Town Council, brought together a number of Italian traders whose stalls on the High Street did a roaring trade in selling pasta, meats, cheeses and bread, plus other products to eager Rayleigh townsfolk.
The event, which was coordinated on the trader’s side by Mr Simon Faro, brought together a number of genuine Italian traders who hailed originally from places as far afield in Italy as Genoa, Rome, Turin and Sicily.
Speaking about the event, Mark Francois said:
“The Italian Market brought some real colour to Rayleigh High Street and chatting to both the traders and customers, people who attended seemed to think it had been a very successful event. The Town Council made a really good decision when they brought the regular market down into the High Street a couple of years ago and it is good to see them laying on additional themed events like this, which provide some real variety for Rayleigh residents. The event seemed to be a pretty popular one and I hope that the Town Council will repeat things like this in the future.”