Street festivals 'threatened' by new police policy as Kingston carnival races to find extra £4,000 to pay for security

Surbiton.com: July 7, 2014 - 4:00am

The Kingston Carnival and other festivals and community events could be threatened by police cuts, organisers have said.

For the first time in 14 years the Kingston Carnival has been told police will not supervise the closing of roads on September 7 in Kingston town centre. Policing guidelines slowly being put into practice say community and charitable events in need of policing should pay “a reasonable contribution towards police costs”. Carnival organisers Kingston Race and Equalities Council (Krec) will have to find £4,000 to pay for at least 40 extra security people.

The Malden Fortnight and Kingston scouts say they may have to cancel. Last year Surbiton Festival organisers were only assigned one police officer and told they would have to pay if they wanted more.

Scouts in Kingston have been walking through Tolworth for their annual St George’s Day Street parade for more than 50 years. Trevor Strong, chairman of Kingston district scouts, said he may have to cancel.

Kingston police Chief Inspector Richard Dean said local policing teams would continue to attend events and work closely with organisers of larger events like the Kingston Carnival to help them run a safe event.

http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/news/11319344.Street_festivals__threatened__by_new_...

SurreyComet.co.uk

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