ORGANISERS of a renowned music event - which has raised £100,000 for charity - have told of their fury after their advertising banner was banned.

Dave Gooderham

ORGANISERS of a renowned music event - which has raised £100,000 for charity - have told of their fury after their advertising banner was banned.

Bures Music Festival bosses accused council officials of being “small town, petty-minded jobsworths” after being told they could not longer place their banner on the railings of St Peter's Church in Sudbury.

They have always draped the banner over the railings in the past and have donated money raised at the festival to groups in Sudbury.

But now Sudbury Town Council has banned the banner, arguing there had been complaints about the “proliferation” of advertising signs at the church and that only events in the town would be promoted.

A spokesman for the music festival said: “Over the last 13 years the festival has raised £100,000 for local charities including Sudbury's Bridge Project and the town's Walnuttree Hospital.

“So for us to no longer be able to advertise it along the church railings, when all we were looking for was three days, is disappointing.

“We have built up a tremendous reputation and pump a lot into the local economy with artists staying in Sudbury.

“We are just up the road, it is not as if we want to advertise Clacton seaside. But the council's attitude was one of a small town, petty-minded jobsworths.”

Formerly Jazz By The Stour, the five-day charity music festival, held on the Suffolk/Essex border, starts next week with all profits distributed to local organisations.

As well as jazz, a choral evening, swing and blues are also planned with the majority of money raised for St Helena's Hospice in Colchester and the village-based Ferriers Barn rehabilitation centre for young disabled people.

Sue Brotherwood, clerk to Sudbury Town Council, said: “We received many complaints a few years ago about the proliferation of banners around the church.

“We spoke to the Friends of St Peters and we decided to only use the railings for advertising events in the town, in the town hall or in the church.

“We have nothing against any other organisation but we had to draw the line somewhere. We would advise anyone looking to advertise in the town to use our noticeboards instead.”