INCENSED villagers blasted Cheshire Police and Halton Council for trying to scupper their carnival after more than 50 years.

They had to cancel their procession because police were unable to attend and residents couldn't afford £2,000 to close a road.

Yet, when drunken youths caused a disturbance at the end of the day, they say, 10 police officers and four squad cars turned up.

"It was like Starsky and Hutch with dust flying everywhere," said committee member Linda Hallett, of High Street, Hale.

"They came mob-handed yet they couldn't spare one officer just to make a token visit a couple of times during the event, when over 1,000 people attended."

Children were disappointed when the procession was cancelled two weeks before the carnival.

"We were led to believe we could go ahead but were met with obstacles and red tape," said Linda.

"There had been a lot of hard work making costumes and organising tractors and trailers for the floats."

The carnival, restricted to the park, was a success until by a gang of rowdy youths caused mayhem.

"They started abusing our security person and when they attacked him, we had to call the police," said Linda.

Nick Bailey, Widnes neighbourhood police inspector, said: "After the carnival ended, police received a 999 call and responded within minutes to a report of a large gang of youths causing a disturbance within the park.

"Officers remained in the area to ensure no further incidents of disorder occurred."

He said a letter was sent to carnival organisers in March, explaining that Cheshire Police "would not support their procession on the public highway due to the dangers involved", in accordance with national Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) policy.

"Where possible and when resources allow, the neighbourhood policing unit allocates officers to attend local events," said Inspector Bailey.

"Unfortunately, this did not happen on this occasion."

A Halton Council spokesperson said: "The council advised Hale Carnival committee in advance that there is likely to be a cost implication if they required a road closure for the event.

"One of the costs would be for a traffic management company to physically instal the closure on the day."

bjordan@worldgroup.co.uk