A WEEK-long celebration of food has begun in a North Yorkshire market town, which has lined up cookery demos, meal discounts and a host of other food-related activities.

Stokesley Food Week runs until Saturday, October 8 and is designed to celebrate local eateries, food producers and retailers from across the local area.

Richmondshire MP Rishi Sunak officially opened Food Week this afternoon at Chapter’s Deli on the town’s High Street.

The event has been organised, and partly funded by, the parish council and local businesses.

It also attracted a £3,500 grant from the North York Moors National Park Authority, on the basis that it encourages visitors to the moors area, as well as £500 from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership and Stokesley Parish Council.

It is only the second food week to run in the town, but Stokesley Parish Councillor Ian Blakemore said the success of the first event had enabled them to build an even bigger celebration this year.

“I think people who visit Stokesley know that there’s good places to eat here, so we have a good base to build on,” he said.

“There’s also a good community in this town and enough businesses and people who live here want to attract people to the town.”

Mr Sunak said: “It’s a great example of what market towns can do to maintain their vitality and relevance. It involves the whole community, it’s fun, it gets people spending money and out in the high street."

The event begins tomorrow morning (Saturday, October 1) with the town’s award-winning farmers’ market, where there will be pop-up food demonstrations by local chefs, cocktail-making sessions and special promotions and tasting opportunities.

Throughout the week, restaurants, pubs, shops cafes and takeaways have a host of offers and discounts and on the final day, Saturday October 8, Stokesley will host a ‘Free Sample Saturday’ event with businesses offering free tasters of various foods and drinks.

Malcolm Smallwood, parish councillor, said: “The support we have had for this year’s Stokesley Food Week has been brilliant.

"Thanks to last year’s event and the tremendous success of the Tour de Yorkshire in Stokesley, there’s a real demand for more events that the local community and visitors to our town can get involved with. We hope people come along and take advantage of the fantastic offers.”

For more details visit; https://www.facebook.com/StokesleyFoodWeek/