CALLS for social distancing and members of the community to self-isolate did not prevent residents from attending Christchurch’s weekly market.

However stall holders at the market were not optimistic that the market would stay open for long, having been badly affected by the recent storms and bad weather in the past weeks.

Yesterday evening, The UK Prime Minister announced that people should avoid “gatherings and crowded places”, with the market likely to be affected.

Martin Riemsleg, who ran the Cheese At Its Best stall, said: “I think this will be one of the things to go. There have been more people out than I expected but that must be because of the weather.

“There are quite a few people walking around but they’re not spending money. Nobody really knows what is going to happen so people are holding money back

“We’ve had Brexit, the storms and now this so you can’t really blame them.”

With people being told to work from home and many businesses on the high street closing earlier or shutting their doors completely due to lack of trade, small businesses are at risk of being badly hit.

Christina Wilson, who ran the Shelley’s Bakery stall at the Monday market, said: “I think businesses will lose out from this, it is going to be a real shame.

“It has been a pretty rough few months. We have had storm after storm which was just awful and now this.

“Most of these businesses will suffer but at least the clothing stalls can pack their stuff away and use it another time.

“When I have food and I’m not able to sell it, I have to throw it away so I’m losing a lot of money.”

The MP for Christchurch Sir Christopher Chope appealed to members of his constituency to stay vigilant during these testing times

He said: “It is desperately serious and unprecedented, but the advice seems to be very clear that the vulnerable people should avoid the potential spread of this virus.

“In Christchurch, we have one of the highest proportions of elderly people as a constituency in the country and that is going to make this especially disruptive.

“It is going to be very difficult, but everybody is going to have to work out how they can best meet the public health need to be responsible.”