IT IS unfortunate that the outstanding success of Leyburn's Dales Festival of Food and Drink should be tempered by a dispute between the event organisers and the Town Council.

As we reported last week, the council has summarily kicked the festival out of the market square on the grounds that it is inconvenient and some traders around the square did not enjoy the benefits of the 32,000 visitors who came to the town over the three days.

Apart from the fact that the town council meeting which took this decision was under-strength due to holidays, it is questionable how representative the four councillors were. To what extent did purely parochial interest inform their decision?

This falling out between the council and the festival must be resolved. The event organisers have always acknowledged that since the runaway and somewhat surprising success of the first festival in 2002, there has been a danger that this very success would cause them problems. They have already realised that the growing appeal of the festival, and the keenness of businesses to participate, would force them to move the main marquee from its central location. They were in the process of consulting with the council about this. They have gone out of their way to meet the concerns of traders in the market square to maximise the benefits and minimise the inconvenience. No doubt they will redouble their efforts. The council has metaphorically slapped the festival organisers in the face.

The town council needs to mend some fences, taking account of the benefits the festival brings to the town and the wider area. It has responsibilities to Leyburn generally, not just a handful of market square traders.

It is not inconceivable that the organisers, faced with this kind of unhelpfulness, will just move the event to the edge of the town but somewhere else altogether. The Dales Festival of Food and Drink could easily be held in another nearby market town.