It was years in the planning but the founder of Twickenham Community Market said the success of the past 12 weeks made it well worth the wait.

After failed attempts to get the market up and running in the old Woolworths, and then the old Citizens Advice Bureau building, it finally found a home at Mac’s Diner in July.

Since then, stall-holders have set up regularly and visitors have come from far and wide to sample products.

For founder Alan Winter, the Twickenham man who had the brainwave for the project, it is proof the demand always was there.

He said: "There is a wonderful, eclectic group of stall-holders at Twickenham Community Market and some of our stall-holders are artists in their own right.

"All has gone to plan in the first 12 weeks and it is starting to build up as we move towards the festive period.

"It is a social enterprise and is not-for-profit so the sole focus is entirely on working together as a community - hopefully it can be a big part of the community for years to come."

All sorts can be found at the market, ranging from knitted phone covers to postcards from years gone by.

The RFU has donated money for a charity stall each week, something the mayor of Richmond Councillor Jane Boulton thanked them for.

She said: "I’d like to say a big thank you to the RFU for doing that.

"It has been a wonderful morning and today I’ve been delighted to promote the mayor’s charities, Homelink and Momentum. It is a wonderful community project."

The market can be found at Mac’s Diner in Heath Road, which was joint-commended at the Richmond Business Awards last week for best new start-up.

It runs between 9am and 5pm every Monday and Tuesday.