Manchester's St. Ann's Square may be completely flat - but an Alpine village-style Spring market will be offering mountains of goodies when it opens for business between Wednesday, May 16 to Tuesday, May 29.

The Spring market is the latest Manchester City Council offering for city centre workers, residents, shoppers and tourists.

It will be wallets and purses, not skis and snowboards, as a wide variety of stalls offer a huge selection of arts and crafts, flowers, plants and bulbs - just in time for keen gardeners to add to their displays at home.

Dutch flower man Dirk Van De Wardt will be encouraging shoppers to spruce up their gardens while Lynne Geeson will be selling everything with a fairy theme via Forget-Me-Not-Fairies.

For those with an eye on environmental issues, the Good Bag Co will be selling biodegradable jute bags.

But there will something for everyone with traders ranging from leather goods to jewellery to paintings, plus fashion accessories, speciality foods, toys and gifts.

There will be several new features, including the Dutch Kibbeling Factory. Proprietor Claus Van Der Goot will be selling cooked fish kibbeling, a Dutch favourite of fried white fish pieces served in a special garlic sauce.

The Executive Member for markets, Councillor Paul Murphy, said: "There's no doubt that our specialist markets are proving to be very popular. It's yet another reason to visit the city centre - if you can't find what you're shopping for in Manchester, it probably doesn't exist."

The Spring market will be open between 10am and 6pm each day.