THOUSANDS of people have called for the return of the Southampton Balloon Festival after a petition was started on the Internet.

In just a week more 6,500 people joined a website group demanding the prestigious event featuring hundreds of hot air balloons is relaunched on Southampton Common.

The petition has now won the support of a Southampton MP who hopes the campaign will get the festival off the ground again.

Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, John Denham said: “It was just a fantastic event. It was awash with parents and young children and Southampton had never seen anything like it before or since. It would be great if it came back.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

“You do have to be sensible with costs but with a little bit of imagination and initiative you can still get very good value for money from the taxpayer.”

A Lib Dem council axed the festival in 2003 after the number of people attending fell to just 75,000 – half the 150,000 who attended the event in its heyday during the 1990s.

They also blamed the festival’s £70,000 price tag and difficulties flying balloons in and around Southampton because of the increasing number of flights from the city’s airport.

Councillor John Hannides, Cabinet member for leisure, said: “I attended the balloon festival and enjoyed it very much. If it was able to continue in the city we would be delighted to see it return.

“It came to an end because the sponsors withdrew and it’s very unfortunate that it ended that way.

They felt that they were not getting a good return on their investment because of a lack of attendance.”

He added that if a sponsor could be found then the council would support the return of the event.

The cost of the last balloon festival in 2003 was £130,000 of which £70,000 was provided by the council, Ordnance Survey stumped up £20,000 and traders and stall holders contributed around £40,000.

There was a huge uproar from opposition councillors and residents groups across the city when the June festival was scrapped and replaced with a garden festival featuring family activities and horticultural displays.

But after a meagre 10,000 turned up for the two-day event costing £83,000 it was dropped from the calendar.