IT was power to the people at Halesworth on Wednesday as a vital new source of electricity was celebrated in the Market Place.Three power points were officially unveiled there by town council chair Janet Wright - something which will benefit town organisations, businesses and market stallholders.

IT was power to the people at Halesworth on Wednesday as a vital new source of electricity was celebrated in the Market Place.

Three power points were officially unveiled there by town council chair Janet Wright - something which will benefit town organisations, businesses and market stallholders.

The power points are available to anyone who wishes to use them, but have been a particular boost for traders at the town's Wednesday market.

It is hoped that they will entice back the farmer's market to Halesworth, which moved to the community hall at Holton three years ago because of a lack of electricity. And the new power points have already seen the return of the Sole Bay Cheese stall, which had moved to Southwold market due to the lack of electricity in Halesworth.

Carl Bennett, who co-runs the stall, said: “We sell cheese and we absolutely need mains power - it's illegal to let it go over four degrees Celsius for more than four hours. We've got two and a half to three thousand pounds worth of cheese here and obviously we don't want to lose that!

“It's good to be back, Halesworth is a nice place to be, it's a real working town with a real mix of people.”

The campaign to get power into the Market Place started three years ago and has eventually been realised through a Suffolk Strategic Partnership Performance Reward Grant from Suffolk County Council and from the locality budget of Suffolk County Council's Wendy Mawer.

“Good things come to those who wait and we've been waiting a long time,” said Janet Wright. “I'd like to thank the market traders for their patience. It's wonderful for the town.”

The power points were used by the Lee Vasey Band when they played at the town's Christmas lights switch-on at the weekend, and they will also be available for use during the Halesworth Lions Street Fair on Sunday.