HAS Barnard Castle annual Meet, which has been running for 140 years, finally run its course?

This was the poser faced by committee members at their annual meeting on Wednesday as they tried to decide the fate of next year's event.

Former chairman Andy Willsmore told the D&S Times that only one new face had turned up at the meeting, leaving members to wonder if they were running the Meet purely for their own benefit.

"The whole of the committee wants to carry on, but we are asking - do the people of the town want it? We asked ourselves whether they missed it when foot-and-mouth was on and the obvious answer has to be no, because they failed to support it this year, with only one large float in the procession despite a first prize of £200."

Organisers were nearing the end of their tether, especially when they heard criticisms from people not prepared to help.

"Are we putting on the Meet because it has been going for 140 years, or has it had its day?" questioned Mr Willsmore. "It is a lot of hard work, with very little support."

Asked whether the Meet would go ahead, whether any new faces came forward or not, Mr Willsmore said that they had been unable to find a chairman at Wednesday's meeting, and without a person in the chair they could not go forward so had not elected a new committee.

He could not see the Meet going ahead as a three-day event, it might just have to be the Monday. This posed its own problems, as Monday's events were reliant on cash raised on the other two days.

"We will hold an open forum, probably in about three or four weeks' time, when the usual cry will go out for help. We realise that people have many commitments these days and it is not just the Meet which suffers these problems.

"We will await the outcome of the forum before any firm decisions are taken but we were not happy with the support we got this year. If the town wants it, and shows it wants it by offering support, then it will go ahead.