An avid record dealer who spent years in the industry staging and tour managing bands hopes to be spinning with success when the Record Fair celebrates its fifth birthday this weekend.

John Beddows owner of Backtrax Music in Sandbach Market Hall is getting ready for the biggest Record Fair to date when traders from all over the North West will be converging on Sandbach on Sunday (December 5th) for the event.

John, who is also a town councillor for Town ward, can name the Beatles' White Album top loader and Bob Marley's Catch a Fire, which comes in a Zippo lighter case among his own collection .

He said: "I've been involved in music for years. I used to stage and tour manage bands until I got a job at a local college.

"The records are a hobby, but a hobby that has taken over my life," said John.

"The idea was that I would sell records I had duplicates of, but then people just asked me, 'do you want to buy some records?' and I said yes.

"It took off from having about three boxes to 18 or 20 boxes with 100 records in each.

"So I must have 1,000 records for the stall at least, which is separate from my own collection."

John says although streaming is popular, there's nothing quite like playing a piece of vinyl.

"The album is so tactile; you open it up, it might have a poster in it with stickers and pictures; it could have the lyrics," says John.

"Some of them are just amazing pieces of art. All right, you have to get

up and change it over, which you don't have to do with a CD, but I think the sound is so different. They're more about the experience The Record Fair takes place from 10 am until 3 pm in Sandbach Market Hall and says John will be packed with traders. "We're completely full with fantastic traders from all over the North West selling quality new and preloved vinyl records. "Once again JoRocks café is open for food and drinking during the day. "One of the successful things the Record Fair has done over the past five years is to promote the town of Sandbach." Sandbach's Mayor, Cllr Geraint Price Jones will be at the event along with Sandbach's own lager Bach95.