ORGANISERS of another Hampshire carnival are warning this year's summer event could be the last.

The future of Romsey carnival was thrown into doubt last year after the annual event attracted a low turnout of entries.

This summer the committee says it is determined to give the charity event another go but says that if it does not get enough people taking part then it may have to cancel the event in 2009.

The warning comes after the Echo revealed the Lymington and Penning-ton carnival has been scrapped for 2008 due to new council rules on road closures which made it difficult to find the necessary insurance cover.

Brockenhurst carnival is also facing the same threat and the annual community fundraisers are no longer held in Totton or Marchwood.

New Romsey carnival committee member Rachel Upfold said the committee had made a number of changes to get as many people involved as possible including changing the start to 2.30pm rather than 6pm.

"We have also moved the procession to a Sunday rather than a Saturday," she said.

"We have already had about half a dozen early entries in so it is looking promising but we still need a lot more."

The procession kick starts a week of events in the town as part of Romsey carnival week which runs from July 20 to July 27.

As well as groups, schools, and organisations, the committee is also looking for businesses to enter.

"We currently have one possible entry that has a 22ft dragon, but we need a lorry to bring it from Chandler's Ford and take it back at the end," she added.

How we could save our carnivals - End of the Week page 20 of today's Daily Echo