BROAD Street Christmas Market will be hoping to entice Westgate Centre shoppers with its range of stalls and mulled wine, with the event running for an extra five days this year.

The attraction featuring about 60 stalls in now in its sixth year and starts today.

This year the market has been extended, running for 16 days until December 22, instead of 11 days.

And to bring in more shoppers looking for Christmas gifts a cheeky reminder in Bonn Square will point Westgate shoppers to Broad Street.

Market organiser Nicole Rahimi said: “There are many more shoppers in Oxford now thanks to the Westgate Centre so we are encouraging them to come to us with mulled wine in Bonn Square.

“When shoppers venture out of the Westgate then we can encourage them to come to Broad Street because the market is a great way to get ready for Christmas.”

The popular festive feature is backed by Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

Wooden stalls selling food, drink and gifts line half the street and entry is free.

The market will be open from Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 8pm, and from Sunday to Wednesday from 10am to 6.30pm.

With traders offering unusual and handmade gifts, and the aroma of mulled wine in the air, many shoppers find the attraction a refreshing addition to the chain stores on the high street.

Ms Rahimi added: “The market attracts thousands of shoppers and some of the same traders return year after year so they must be doing well.

“There are three traders who have been with us since 2009 when we started at Oxford Castle. We switched to Broad Street in 2013 and next year we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary.”

Ms Rahimi said traders would sell a wide range of food and drink, including Le Rack Shack, offering Alpine Raclette cheese. This is poured over crushed new potatoes and rosemary fries with smoked sausage and pickles.

Also on sale will be Christmas decorations and ornaments, Christmas puddings, and children’s clothes.

Another stallholder, O’Donnell Moonshine, aims to ‘bring back the flavour of prohibition era America through its unique liquors’.

Ms Rahimi said: “There will be about 20 traders who are here for the first time. I’m pleased the market is here for longer - we can’t start too soon because parents of students at Balliol College come to pick them up at the end of term.”

Mary Clarkson, the city council’s board member for the city centre, said earlier she was pleased the market was going to stay ‘longer than ever’ in 2018.