There's plenty of fresh fish to be had at Preston Indoor Market

Want quality fresh produce at low prices? Well, it’s here in Preston. For many the weekly trip to the supermarket has begun to replace religion. We wander the isles, gawping at special offers but are generally separated from our food. It doesn’t matter if we don’t know our pounds and ounces, all that’s important is the total number of pounds on the display at the checkout.

Preston Indoor Market is tucked away between Iceland and the Outdoor Covered Market. There’s fresh produce, meat, fruit, vegetables and fish. The smells are fantastic and the sellers friendly and willing to do plenty of swift business.

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Setting out to experience the market, I was a bit nervous. You have to plan, take a backpack (very handy for putting loads of stuff in) and invest in some of those bags for life from the supermarkets. Write out what you want before you go and have an idea of how much you’ll need. Entering there’s about three or four fruit and veg stalls, I wasn’t sure which one to go for so went for the one that had the most people round it – always a sure sign of either good quality or cheap prices (or potentially both).

I managed to do my weekly shop for £30 and I got plenty. I found a little shop down the far end of the market that did spices and herbs, it was dirt cheap and despite the lady running it being a little deaf she was very patient with my rather poor pronounciation of turmeric.

We also discovered there was a pet store and the hay and straw there was both cheaper and better quality than certain large pet stores.

I read recently that the market is seeing a surge in profits for traders as people come to find recession beating bargains. Well, let’s hope it continues even if the economy does recover. Shopping at the market is far more rewarding, and there’s a big pic’n’mix stall, and you find you eat healthier as well. It forces you to cook from scratch and you’ll see the pounds falling off you as well as the pounds staying in your bank account – supermarkets are very good at making us all spend money.

Give Preston Indoor Market a try. It’s open 8 AM to 5.30 PM Monday – Saturday (although core trading hours are 9 AM – 5 PM and it’s best to go in the morning to get the best stuff and also for there to be stocks left – parking in the bus station car park is £1.20 for an hour, plenty of time). Closed Sunday.