HUNDREDS braved the snow and rain to sample the meat and dairy-free delights of Oxford’s first vegan market.

With ‘Veganuary’ in full swing, people queued to get into the event at Oxford Town Hall, which was packed with more than 60 stalls selling a huge variety of vegan products.

They sold everything from vegan foods to luxury vegan cosmetics as well as ethical clothing and charities.

Sarah Cox, 23, visited the market with her friend Alice Wojcik.

She said: “I’m a vegetarian already and I’ve been taking part in Veganuary so the timing couldn’t have been better.

“I live in Ascot but my sister lives in Oxford so I know the city really well. Compared to where I live there are so many options if you’re a vegan here.”

Proving Oxford is a leading light in the growing vegan food scene, the city gained its first vegan restaurant in 2017.

Happy Friday Kitchen on Cowley Road opened in November promising that going meat and dairy-free doesn’t mean compromising on delicious food.

That attitude is shared by Badger Hawkins, who was at the market to sell his homemade sandwich fillings.

He said: “About five or six years ago I became vegan and found it really hard to get good vegan deli fillings so decided to create my own.

“The response has been fantastic and I’ll be back in March for another Oxford vegan event.”

Many of the businesses at Sunday’s market were initially motivated by a lack of options for vegans.

Chloe Smith, who launched ethical t-shirt business A Kind Living in August, said: “Veganism has really taken off in the last few years and it means there’s a lot more types of vegan than before.

“My t-shirts come in lots of styles, are ethically sourced and the logos are quite subtle, which people like.”

Organiser Lewis Beresford said: “We had people queuing up before we even opened, it seems like something people were really keen to see in Oxford.

“The idea was to give people an easy introduction to the kind of businesses that are out there.”

Mr Beresford is the founder of Earth Events, and put on vegan markets in Cambridge, Nottingham and Derby. He said: “I chose Oxford because of its large student population from the two universities. I think it is quite similar to Cambridge in that respect and the market has worked really well there.”

Elsewhere, Oxford Vegan Festival returns in March following two successful events at the Kassam Stadium last year.