Chippenham Carnival supporters have sent out a rallying cry to spark new interest in the town's flagging carnival.

The year 2000 event raised £363.78 for charity, a big drop on the £1,895 from the previous year.

Chairman Godrey Hibberd and his wife Diane have stepped down from the Carnival Committee after three years at the helm.

But the president, Chippenham Mayor Sandie Webb, along with vice chairman Neil Parsons, are to continue the campaign to maintain the event.

They have set up a meeting at the Angel Hotel on December 5 at 7.30pm, with an appeal for new committee members and supporters to step forward to take the carnival into the 21st century.

"Godfrey Hibberd has a new job, he's been working with the carnival for about seven years and everybody needs a change," said Coun Webb.

"Some of the committee members are staying but we are asking everybody in the town to come to the meeting. We want nominations for the posts of chair and treasurer."

Coun Webb said she was confident new members would step forward and she hoped groups like Rotary and the Lions Club would join in to help raise money for the town.

"People can just turn up at the meeting the more the merrier," she said.

"Anyone who wants to be an officer should drop a note into the town hall for my attention."

Coun Webb added: "It would reflect very badly on us if a big town with a nice community could not keep the carnival going."

Neil Parsons, who has been vice chairman for two years, said the Chippenham Carnival 2000 had culminated in a wonderful procession but little money was raised.

He believes the carnival should focus more on entertainment than charity fundraising in the future. "We need to get sponsorship," he said. "If we don't get funding over the next couple of years the carnival will go down the drain."

Mr Parsons suggested the committee should concentrate efforts on building up the procession, perhaps taking it through the High Street.

"We will not let the procession die out. We just need to change the mentality of the town. These days Chippenham is more a place where people commute from but we need community spirit."

The Chippenham Carnival procession was held on the last weekend in June this year, the culmination of two weeks of events, including a car boot sale and fireworks in Monkton Park.

The Chippenham Carnival dates back to 1923 when £355 was raised for Chippenham Hospital.

Now Mr Parsons is hoping to find financial support from organisations such as the Arts Council and North Wiltshire District Council.

"We won't have an event on the scale of Pewsey, but we do want to involve all Chippenham's schools and clubs," he said.