Carnival fine is slammed

Todmorden Charity Carnival organisers have slammed Calderdale Council's decision to fine the group over damage to Centre Vale Park as 'scandalous'.
Charity event: Carnival goers enjoying this years event at Centre Vale ParkCharity event: Carnival goers enjoying this years event at Centre Vale Park
Charity event: Carnival goers enjoying this years event at Centre Vale Park

Carnival chairman Philip Clarke said his committee had been fined £400 by Calderdale Council after a lorry drove over the edge of protective matting and onto the field.

The move has led to criticism that the council is making it even more difficult for volunteer organisers to hold public events in the Todmorden park.

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“They might as well build a brick wall across the field,” Mr Clarke said. “It’s scandalous and it is money coming out of charity. I am very disgusted.

“My vehicle travelled 100 metres, that’s all. There wasn’t a churning up of the ground, it didn’t break it. There were a couple of indentations.”

The fine would have been £800 but had been halved after a lorry unrelated to the carnival had also driven over the grass surface, he said. But Calderdale Council’s head of neighbourhoods, Andrew Pitts, said it had been made clear to the carnival and all other event organisers that heavy vehicles were not allowed on certain parts of the park without adequate ground protection.