THE ANNUAL re-enactment of the historic 'Battle of Camlann' in Tintagel has been discontinued due to financial constraints.

A series of unfortunate events has led to the

burden of cost put on show organisers being too

excessive to continue.

People regularly travelled from all over the UK and Europe to attend, whether as fans or participants, from as far as Ireland, Germany, Spain, Holland, Hungary and beyond.

Gandalf Strutt, who has been involved with the

re-enactment since its first year, spoke of his sadness at having to make the decision to close it down.

"It was a part of my life and will leave a massive hole, because we planned for it all year round.

"Tintagel will definitely notice the loss. We brought in thousands of people, which meant trade in the village. A hotel manager told me recently he would normally be looking at having plenty of bookings for the times before, during and after the event, but that isn't the case anymore."

Gandalf attributed the closure of the show to a number of factors but the overall problem was finance.

Bad weather meant a day being called off during three of the past four years of shows on the grounds of health and safety, which in turn led to gate receipts dropping.

Another crucial loss to the event was the removal of the RAC signage dotted around the villages surrounding roads. Coupled with drops in tourism numbers, it has been estimated that their removal led to a further reduction in gate intakes, and these were never really recovered.

Despite advertising months before the event took place, attendances were on a decline and funds followed the same trend.

Gandalf explained: "We'd normally have money left from each year to put into the next year's event and carry on from there, but we chewed into those reserves due to expenses. It was only by the skin of our teeth we managed to hold the final battle.

"Things like the local events licence now being required meant more money having to be spent that we didn't have to before."

Gandalf, however, did not rule out the possibility of the show returning one day, should suitable investment become available.

"We can't be put in debt. We are normal, hard working people and it has to be viable. If we could get grant funding to start the show off again then great, but it would have to be successful year on year. We on the committee never took any money and all extra would be given to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) or Cornwall Air Ambulance.

"It was for the reaction of those that came and watched, the look on their faces. We were like one big family — but now the heart of the family has been pulled out."