Residents and businesses complain about busy crowds, loss of trade, repetitive stalls and extortionate prices

The Halloween cobwebs had barely been brushed off the shop windows of Birmingham city centre when the German-style Christmas market, one of the largest in the UK, opened on 1 November.

Stretching over 500 yards down the city’s main shopping street and spilling out into the main square, for just over seven weeks dozens of stalls will sell bratwurst sausages, sweet treats, trinkets and beer – at £12 for a pint (including the deposit for the glass).