Birmingham Christmas market opens to visitors

Birmingham's annual Frankfurt Christmas Market is expected to again attract millions of visitors

Millions of visitors are again expected to flock to Birmingham for the city's annual Frankfurt Christmas Market which launched on Thursday.

The event, on New Street and Victoria Square, opens each day at 11:00 GMT until 24 December.

Earlier this year, organisers said the market was safe from the city's financial crisis.

Birmingham City Council declared itself effectively bankrupt in September.

Chloe Williams (left) said she and her friends, Alyss and Jodie, always came to the first day of the market

A five-year deal for the event to continue to 2027 remained in place, organisers said.

Chloe Williams and her friends work nearby and told BBC Radio WM they always visited on the event's first day.

"Every year, the day it opens, it's a tradition that we come," she said.

Adam and Pauline travelled from Malvern to the market. "It's always a nice place at Christmas to chill out, not too far to go, bit of shopping, bit of food and drink," Adam said.

The market will feature more than 100 stalls

Melissa and Phil said they would probably be regular visitors to this year's market

The market is a lucrative tourist attraction with an annual economic value of £350m.

The attraction would feature more than 100 stalls and support more than 7,000 jobs, the local authority said.

Also among the visitors on the first day were Phil and Melissa, who predicted they would be regulars.

"It's not quite Christmas yet but we don't mind, we'll be down here all the time I think," Melissa said.

The market features entertainment as well as stalls