A west Suffolk market has been named as one of the best of 2014 at a national awards ceremony.

Haverhill market won the title of Market of the Year at the National Association of British Market Authorities annual awards day in Birmingham yesterday.

The Best Love Your Local Market award followed several trade-boosting initiatives from St Edmunsbury Borough Council, including a series of youth markets and a motor show.

Alaric Pugh, St Edmundsbury Cabinet member for economic growth, said: “It is a great achievement for our work with the Haverhill market traders.

“Each of these stalls is a small business and St Edmundsbury is always keen to look for new ways to support the economic growth of the market and of small businesses in general, and to encourage residents living in and around the town to shop locally, where possible.”

He added: “The youth market encouraged young entrepreneurs to try their hand at being a market trader.

“We had good support from the schools in the town while the stalls were very popular with the local community.

“The motor show, meanwhile, brought a whole mix of new customers to our stalls.

“We have some wonderful market traders in Haverhill and we very much look forward to building on this national success and working with the stall holders on initiatives to further promote the market.”

The markets in Haverhill are held on Market Square on Fridays and on the High Street every Saturday and host a variety of stalls from food to toys.