But council officers say 150,000 people still attended and the downturn made for a more comfortable event.

In a report due to go before city councillors, officials said the number of coaches coming to the event had dropped by 15%.

They said that meant the safety team did not experience the crowd congestion problems of previous years - and traders said sales were good because people had more time to browse.

Financial implications

Officials added that the park and ride was a success with 7,000 cars using it.

The disabled park and ride suffered from higher than anticipated demand.

There were complaints from some users that they had to wait in the cold for hours.

The report said there had been uncertainty about the market going ahead because of the firefighters' strike and the council had to commit extra resources for safety.

It said the overall financial implications of the event were still being assessed.