KENDAL'S Torchlight Procession has been saved after town councillors threw organisers of the September spectacular an 11th hour financial lifeline, reports Mike Addison.

Serious doubts about the long-term future of the 22-year-old event emerged last month when it was revealed that the organising committee was £16,000 in the red.

But with this autumn's procession in jeopardy because the cash shortfall was deterring sponsors from coming forward, Kendal Town Council stepped in on Monday with a £10,000 donation to put the event " back on an even keel." This money is on top of a £3,490 grant that the town council has already given the Kendal Events Association.

A relieved Ron Clancy, who is chairman of the Torchlight Procession, a sub-committee of the KEA, said: "I am delighted.

It has not been a secret that we have a temporary shortfall in our funds and cash flow problems and over the past few weeks a lot of work has gone on to try to address the situation.

" The Kendal Torchlight Committee has shown its confidence in the event and now thanks to the co-operation of the town council we can move forward to make sure that we have a great torchlight on September 13."

But Kendal Town Council has laid down clauses that the committee will be required to meet and the most significant is that the treasurer of the town council, Phil Hull, becomes an automatic member of the torchlight group and authorises and oversees expenditure.

Coun Austen Robinson said it might be "draconian" but the council needed to guard its back because it was public money being spent.

There was also a consensus at the meeting that the structure of the KEA - a non-elected group run entirely by volunteers - needed "restructuring and revitalising."

Mr Clancy accepted that the KEA needed to be taken forward whether that is under its current name or as a charitable trust.

He said the cash shortfall problems were "beyond control of the torchlight committee" and were due to spiralling health and safety costs - erection of crowd control barriers (£ 6,000) and road closures (£2,500) - that have cropped up over the last two years.

Mr Clancy also pointed out that the event does not raise any money for charity although donations are given to organisations such as the St John Ambulance and Red Cross who help out on the night.

The Westmorland Gazette tried to contact the treasurer of the KEA, Richard Kirkby, this week but he was unavailable for comment.