THE people of Andover have until Monday to decide whether or not they want a carnival procession.

Since Andover Lions Club president Fred Harper appealed for more help to run the event just one offer of aid has been forthcoming.

Now the club is holding a meeting on Monday evening to make the final decision - and unless there is a sudden surge of interest the carnival will be abandoned.

Mr Harper said: "This is the last ditch. We are going to have our meeting on Monday and if we get no more response by then the carnival will be cancelled."

A month ago Mr Harper said the carnival's future was hanging by a thread and that they were struggling to meet both the cost of the Festival Weekend and muster the organisational power needed to stage it.

The club has already decided to give the Andover Show a break this year after a disappointing 2004 - but they aim to bring it back next year.

But if it had not been for a core group of regular supporters - like scouts, brownies, playschools, football teams and other voluntary organisations - there would have been no carnival procession last year.

And now it's crunch time.

For the full story see Friday's Andover Advertiser.