Several years ago, the Seafront Festival Association in Worthing became a limited company.

Worthing Borough Council does not run the Seafront Festival, nor is the limited company in financial trouble.

Having said that, the council has always been there to back the company and three councillors, ourselves and Tim Dice, are happy to sit on its festival committee to help as much as possible.

Last year, there was a £20,000 loss that was met by a loan from the council and has now been paid back. The company is marginally in credit.

Putting on complicated events such as this is becoming harder and more expensive because of the way modern society thinks. Litigation is endemic so insurance rises.

The responsibility taken on by the four remaining directors is phenomenal and they are unpaid volunteers.

They have not found more directors to help them and feel their position has become untenable, so have asked the council to take over legal responsibility.

This is probably not possible, due mainly to budgetary restraints, and a final answer will not be available until the budget has been allocated.

We are personally determined the festival will continue. The Steyne custom car show and bus run are both already well in hand for next year. The association has called an EGM for December 23 to close the company.

Your council is not stopping the Seafront Festival. The Seafront Festival Association Ltd may well be.

-Coun Janet Goldsbrough-Jones and Coun Robert Smytherman (Lib Dems), Worthing Borough Council