KENDAL Farmers' Market's new look has completely divided food producers and customers.

Out has gone the marquee, which were expensive to hire but a blessing in the rain, and in have come pop-ups' individual gazebos which were bought by market organisers Made in Cumbria to save money in the long term and to give a more traditional feel to the monthly food gathering in the town's market place.

Jane Merritt, of Old Dairy Baking at Gatebeck, was so incensed by the introduction of the pop-ups that at Friday's market, she organised a petition for objectors to register their disapproval.

"Customers don't want to stand out in the rain and, if there's a wind, these pop-ups could blow down. The whole effect is not an improvement. There's just no atmosphere now."

Round the corner, however, Michelle Partington, of Savin Hill Farm in the Lyth Valley, had nothing but praise for them: "I think they're great. Visually, everyone can see us much better as they walk past. We are the food capital of England here, so let's shout about it."

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