'Get organised' say pub goers (From Barry And District News)

'Get organised' say pub goers

REGULARS at a popular Barry pub have lashed out at the Carnival committee, urging them to "get some new blood in" or end it altogether.

Bassett Arms pub-goers claim they were forced to wait nearly two hours for their carnival float to be judged on Saturday, on one of the hottest weekends in recorded history.

But organisers have hit back, insisting they did their best with limited resources.

The Bassett Arms say they spent weeks organising their float for the finale of the carnival. But they were disappointed with events on the day, and wrote to us on Monday to vent their anger.

Natalie Horsell, from the Bassett, said: "We had all got to the pub early on Saturday morning to add finishing touches to our float.

"We changed into our costumes and went to the meeting point at the dock entrance.

"We'd been told to be there bet-ween 1pm and 2pm, but when we turned up, there was no-one to greet us.

"We called the carnival committee, and were told to drive in and wait on the dockside. We parked our truck and waited, getting hotter.

"Finally, the judges turned up and declared us winners, which was hardly surprising, as we were the only ones in our category!

"But then we were threatened with disqualification, because we had a water-pistol on board!

"Thanks to PM Rees (truck company), our fantastic driver Carl and good company, we enjoyed ourselves and had a laugh, which is what the carnival is all about.

"But if new blood isn't brought in soon, the event will simply stop."

Gillian Bailey of the carnival committee responded: "We appreciated it was hot, but we had many letdowns and complications, and the delays were unfortunate, but unavoidable.

"If there had been problems with stewards, the Bassett Arms could have approached us on the day, and we could have sorted it out.

"If they'd like to come and have a chat, we can prevent anything like it happening again."