ORGANISERS of the Marlborough Jazz Festival say a near miss on Saturday shows that Wiltshire Council's decision not to allow the road to be closed for the whole day was irresponsible.

Councillor and organiser Nick Fogg said: "It was a huge worry and completely irresponsible behaviour by Wiltshire Council to not grant us the road closures. During the day a red car careered out of control and only missed a nearby crowd by inches."

Wiltshire Council had proposed the road should have been closed from 5pm on Saturday in a bid to keep both traders and festival organisers happy but on the eve of the event, which draws thousands of people from across the country, Marlborough Arts Association rejected the idea.

This meant no road closures were enforced at the weekend.

In an email to Wiltshire Council deputy leader John Thomson Coun Fogg said: “Marlborough Arts Association has made it absolutely clear that since it was required to produce a report on measures it intended to take to ensure public safety prior to this proposed road and that this was clearly a condition of any granting of the unrequested closures, it was unable to accept this condition.

“This was not only because this closure had never been requested, but, more importantly, because a risk assessment conducted by the health and safety support team of NFU Mutual had concluded that a failure by Wiltshire Council to grant the closures that MAA had originally requested would constitute a risk to public safety in the highest category.”

The lack of road closures affected many musicians who were due to perform on the New Road bandstand which had to be closed due to the risk to the crowds.

Local band KV Brass were affected by the stage closure and although they express gratitude to the committee for finding them a new venue to play in, one of their members also admitted they were disappointed with Wiltshire Council's decision.

Roy Coles said: "We have been performing at the New Road bandstand every year since we first started taking part and it is a shame that it was closed this year. We were disappointed but when we realised that the stage was done the opportunity to play became less and less and Nick and the committee did their utmost to make sure we were accommodated and that we had somewhere to play.

"Where people were concerned, it created great disappointment as the atmosphere where the stage should have been was lost. The general public who cannot afford a ticket or cannot attend for the full day also missed seeing musicians by not having that stage there.

"Quite a few local musicians missed having the stage there and might have missed out on performing at an international festival. We were very fortunate that we were able to be accommodated but that wasn't the same for every band.

"It was a shame as it wasn't the same as it used to be although it was a great day, with great weather, music and lots of people were about."

Despite the disappointment, Wiltshire Council believes it made the correct decision and upheld the needs of both the people and businesses in Marlborough.

Philip Whitehead, cabinet member for highways, said: "As with all events, we will conduct a thorough review to address any issues raised and to support any future decisions.

"As the highways authority we have to balance the needs of all local people and businesses as well as those of the travelling public."

n Jazz festival: Pages 22-24