A POPULAR Bishop's Waltham culinary event made its return.

“Bishop’s Waltham Bites” saw hungry residents sample tasty treats prepared by local food businesses in the town centre on Saturday.

Food lovers sampled delicious delicacies in eight different businesses.

With the participating outlets providing the samples for free, and promotion costs covered by a grant from The Southern Co-operative, all proceeds from ticket sales were donated to Bishop’s Waltham Youth Club.

The group will use the money to fund an outdoor activity day at Marwell Activity Centre.

Serving up tasters at the March event are Natural Deli, The Southern Co-operative, Giorgio’s Mediterranean Restaurant, Piccola Roma, Any Fish, Grover’s Butchers, Apple Crumble and Kitsch and The Crown Inn.

The event has been organised by Winchester City Council’s Market Towns Development Team in collaboration with the Bishop’s Waltham Town Team to support local businesses and showcase the abundance of restaurants, cafés and shops that the town has to offer.

General manager of The Crown Inn in Bishop's Waltham Kenny Dryden said the event was enjoyed by 100 people and was a big success.

He said: "To my knowledge it went really well I hope the event comes back next year, they had 100 tickets and it is good to celebrate local food and local businesses."

"Each one brought their own uniqueness to the table, for instance the Butcher's had their award winning sausages and Piccola Roma served up pizza."