IT IS with sadness that we report on the scrapping of the town’s annual fireworks display.

Councillor Anne Court, the borough mayor of Basingstoke and Deane, announced that the annual fireworks display in the War Memorial Park will not take place this year.

She said that falling attendance figures meant the event was not making money any more for the mayor’s charities.

The borough council said the event costs £45,391 to put on including the cost of “crowd management”.

Only 4,000 turned up last year, paying the entrance fee of £8 for an adult and £4 for children. With those figures, it is not hard to see why there might not be any money left over for the chosen charities.

Nobody wants to see council taxpayers’ money frittered away on something that is not even reaching its goal – to support some of the town’s charities.

But surely it is worth looking at whether an event of this size, which has been going for more than 20 years, can continue in some form?

It seems a shame that organisations in certain areas of Basingstoke, such as Hatch Warren and Rooksdown, can organise similar events with success, but the borough council and the mayor’s office cannot.

This Saturday marks the start of the football season for Basingstoke Town Football Club.

There was a real buzz about the club last season, both on and off the pitch.

The Gazette hopes that manager Jason Bristow and the boys can carry on in similar fashion.