The hunt is on for a saviour to keep Basildon Carnival afloat - after cash shortages left the event's future uncertain in the town's 50th anniversary year.

Basildon Lions have run the event since 1991, but has been forced to pull the plug on the June 27 event, because of a lack of sponsorship and new, more stringent, safety rules.

Police say roads need to be formally closed while the carnival passes - increasing the cost to uneconomical proportions.

Lion Doug Hamilton explained: "We want to run a carnival, but the police have imposed safety restrictions which mean we need to close roads. The council is prepared to fund some of the costs, but not all of it.

"Most of our money is from sponsorship and with sponsorship down, the carnival is no longer viable."

The new safety regime would have involved closing Whitmore Way for an hour, inconveniencing residents and traders as well as causing congestion.

Fellow Lion Bryn Roberts called for someone to save the carnival: "It's Basildon's carnival, not the Lions'. It needs the local community to come forward and say: 'We want a carnival'".

Dave Downing, of Essex Police, explained that since an incident some years ago, police had had to tighten enforcement of the laws. As a result, roads have to be closed.

Past carnivals had been allowed to run with a 'rolling' block on roads, because they were treated as an exceptional case, but this had changed because of an incident at a recent carnival.

A spokesman for Basildon Council said the Lions could have applied to the council's 50th anniversary fund, but had decided not to.

He added: "We are disappointed that it seems they will not be able to put this on, especially in the 50th anniversary year."

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