One of the newest businesses in Hull’s Old Town joined forces with one of the oldest as crowds flocked to Holy Trinity Church.

The Church itself at more than 700 years old provided a focal point for the festive celebrations with Christmas fairs on successive Saturdays featuring music, choirs and carollers, hot festive food, gift stalls, children’s activity workshops and a life-size Nativity scene.

“We were thrilled to see so many people in the Church,” said Reverend Dr Neal Barnes, Vicar of Holy Trinity. “It was really good for us to feel part of the community and to feel that we were doing something for the community. So many people said how much they enjoyed it and some were here both weeks.

“We would love to think this is something we can build upon. It’s good for Hull if we can attract people into the city centre and the Old Town. We had great support from Hull BID during 2011 and we are looking forward to working with them in 2012.”

Photograph: Visitors and shoppers to Christmas at Trinity event.

Among the businesses selling their wares in the Church was ‘Pie’. Matt Cunnah only opened his shop as a takeaway food outlet in Trinity House Lane in November, selling delicious hand-made pies and other popular food items. By January he was working on the next phase – creating a seated eating area in the first floor of his building “It was really exciting working with the Church,” said Matt.

“It came about because some of the people there come into the shop. They are really into local people and the local area.”

Footfall figures for December showed an increase of eight per cent across the city centre compared with 2010, with Whitefriargate up by nearly 37 per cent, King Edward Street showing an increase of 28 per cent and Brook Street up by nearly 21 per cent.

Once again businesses and visitors in the city centre experienced a more safe and secure festive season as the result of Operation Yuletide, conducted by Humberside Police with support from Hull BID.

The project enabled the police to carry out additional patrols of the city centre area, tackling shoplifting and antisocial behaviour. They were backed up by PCSOs and by plain clothes officers on covert duties, and the operation also used the Hull City Council’s Civic CCTV network to follow and track known offenders.

Statistics collated by Humberside Police showed that shop theft in the city centre was down by 15 per cent compared with December 2010 and theft from vehicles was down by 14 per cent for the same period.

Inspector Lee Edwards of the Riverside Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “Police officers were out in force during the festive period with the dual aims of clamping down on crime and all forms of antisocial behaviour and to make the Hull BID area a safe and friendly environment in which to spend time.

“The use of additional resources certainly paid dividends. Reports of shop theft and violence in the Christmas period reduced compared to previous months, despite the increase in footfall that this season brings.”

For more information about Holy Trinity Church visit: www.holy-trinity.org.uk