Bonfire society fears for future after grant stopped

The society has been organising the town's bonfire event for more than 70 years

The organisers of a West Sussex bonfire event are worried about its future after a council funding grant was stopped.

The Littlehampton Bonfire has been running for over 70 years and the society that organises the event says it brings a "flash of excitement" to the town.

However, Lyn Baker, secretary of the Littlehampton Bonfire Society (LBS), said she was concerned after finding out the ongoing council funding "had been pulled" from the event - last year the society received £7,500 from the authority.

A Littlehampton Town Council (LTC) spokesperson said: "With a finite pot of money available and so many community organisations in need, we are not able to grant support to them all."

'Expensive'

LBS said up to 20,000 people attend the annual event.

"The event brings people to the town and provides work for local businesses, hotels and restaurants," a society spokesperson said.

Ms Baker told BBC Radio Sussex the event would be going ahead this year, despite the loss of funding from the council.

However, the society said it needed backing from a range of sources to continue running the "expensive" event.

"We don't want 2024 to be the last event of its kind," the society added.

The authority said it knew not being awarded funds this year would be "disappointing" for the society, but this did not mean it would not be considered for future funding opportunities.