ORGANISERS of a historic Weymouth funfair have accused civic chiefs of forcing them out of the town after 15 years of trading.

Edward Danter, organiser of the Weymouth Easter fun fair, claims that their application to host their annual event on the Weymouth Pavilion car park over the Easter break was turned down in February because the council was seeking to branch out and host a food festival to bring more variety to the town.

As a result, the family-run fair, which organisers say brought fun to the people of Weymouth and beyond, was forced to move to Victoria Square in Portland where it opened on Thursday and will run until tomorrow.

The Weymouth Bank Holiday Weekend Street Food and Craft Fair took its place which saw a variety of street foods and craft stalls selling a variety of homemade produce from across the county.

Speaking to the Dorset Echo, Mr Danter said that his business had been severely affected and had put the fair at a severe disadvantage because they were losing trade.

He added: “We have always hosted our fair on the Weymouth Pavilion car park for the last fifteen years until now.

“I don’t understand why the borough council have turned down our application to host this historic event at the Pavilion which has been popular attracting thousands of people every day in good weather and instead host a food festival that, from my understanding, was poorly attended.

“This year, since moving to Victoria Square in Portland, the weather has not been great so the grass surface has got very muddy so it can be much harder for people to visit and get their vehicles off the grass when parking, this was not an issue at the Pavilion.”

As well as Weymouth, the Danter family also host various fairground rides, attractions and family entertainment in the west of England, Wales and beyond.

Mr Danter added: “We are a well-established fair, started by my grandfather, then my dad and now me. We’ve got our five big rides: the dodgems, the Sizzler, Super Bowl, Miami Dancer and the Oxygen ride. Lots of smaller rides and loads for the kids to enjoy.

“We hope that we can have our fair on the Pavillion next Easter.”

Mr Danter’s family say their fair will return to Weymouth Pavilion during the later bank holiday in May as well as during Weymouth Carnival in August.

The Dorset Echo attempted to contact Weymouth and Portland Borough Council for a response however they did not respond at the time of going to press.