Ambitious plans have been unveiled to stage a Christmas Market in Huddersfield town centre.

But £20,000 must be raised to make it happen and a plea has now gone out for people to rally round.

The event, planned for St George’s Square, will feature crafts, gifts, food and drink – and the aim is for all of them to have a Yorkshire theme.

It is the brainchild of a small group set up after the success of August’s food and drink festival in Huddersfield and the fact that Kirklees Council doesn’t have money to fund its usual Festival of Light at the start of December.

Group spokesman is catering business owner Anthony Hegney whose company Asparagus Green has the contract for the catering at the National Mining Museum. He has already donated £1,000 to get the ball rolling.

He said: “After the food and drink festival social media went mad with people asking for a Christmas market like Leeds and Manchester have.

Could we have a market like this? Click below for a look at Leeds German Market

“On the back of this there is a small group of us that are keen to get the market off the ground and give Huddersfield the Christmas it deserves. We are doing this with the support of Cathy Burger who owns and runs Food Festivals Ltd who will pull the stall holders together.

“The event won’t be just food and drink, it will be Yorkshire products and gifts with entertainment. We are going to run it for nine days in total to make sure this is a great event.

“But we can’t do it alone and need the support of the people of Huddersfield. We have secured crowd funding and now we need to raise £20,000 to make it happen. I have kickstarted that with my business Asparagus Green starting the pot of with £1,000.

"Now we need other business to donate and sponsor the event along with the public if they want this to go ahead, donating whatever they can as the set-up costs for such a free event runs into thousands of pounds.”

Santa digs for gold at The National Coal Mining Museum to launch crowdfunding appeal for a Huddersfield Christmas Market - with elf helpers Poppy Stahelin and Sam Watt and Food Festivals' Cathy Burger and Anthony Hegney.

Cathy Burger from Food Festivals Ltd added: “Entertainment will be in the form of music bands, choirs, school choirs, brass/instrumental, dance and comedy. We are wanting to encourage local groups/bands etc to get in touch and come down to showcase their talents to Huddersfield residents.

“This really is about getting Huddersfield to have an event at Christmas that residents and schools can get involved in. It’s about Huddersfield people owning this event, creating the opportunity for this event to grow and become a fixture on the town’s event calendar.

“We are encouraging businesses to sponsor and in return they get branding exposure and we are also asking local people who really want this to happen to join in with the crowd funding on Just Giving. Without the funding, it won’t be able to go ahead.

“We have a 30 day period in which to raise the money – and if the businesses and people of Huddersfield have an appetite to make it happen we’re sure they will get involved!

If you want to make a donation, visit the Just Giving page.

* If you want to visit Santa 140 metres down in his magical underground grotto at the National Coal Mining Museum for England he’ll be there every weekend in December and December 21-23. Booking is essential on 01924 848806.