ROLL up, roll up... Haslemere’s biennial Charter Fair will see the High Street and West Street host hundreds of stalls as well as a fun fair, on Bank Holiday Monday.

Visitors can also enjoy the Oyez! Oyez! as town criers from across the country compete for the town’s coveted trophy – they will be shouting from the rooftops – well the grounds of Haslemere Museum grounds – from 10am.

The town centre will be closed and traffic diversions will be in place from 1-5pm on May 7 as an estimated crowd of 8,000 visitors descends on the town.

A free courtesy bus will operate a route from the Shottermill bus stop outside the Working Man’s Club direct to the fair.

The Charter Fair is organised by an army of volunteers from the town and nearby villages. The event has been held every other year since it was reinstated in 1984.

The event is also a good opportunity for town organisations and charities to show off what they offer to a big audience with scores of stalls laid out in High Street and West Score,

The newly-formed Haslemere Community Land Trust will seize the opportunity to raise awareness of the key role it plans to play in tailoring future building projects to the needs of residents, by launching a housing survey at its stall.

To tempt more people to take part, a Haslemere-themed cartoon specially penned by ‘Private Eye’ cartoonist Ken Pyne is up for grabs.

Trust deputy chairman Martin James said. “The average price of a Haslemere home is now almost £660,000, but the average salary of someone working in Waverley is just £28,600. The current affordability gap is obvious, and there is a clear need for the creation of homes our people can afford.

“We are launching a major housing needs survey at the fair to find out if we should be building one-bed homes for singletons, two-bed flats for young couples, family houses or retirement apartments?

“Where is the need for affordable housing felt most acutely?

“We are urging everyone to respond to the survey to help ensure the affordable homes built in the future are just right to meet the needs of our community. The deadline for completing the survey is June 7 and it can also be completed online at www.haslemereclt.org.uk.”