THE Town Hall bookings procedure has long been a sore subject for some Craven charities.

Not only is the price contentious, the difficulty of making a booking has also raised concerns. The block bookings made on behalf of the NSPCC certainly raise eyebrows and the council has admitted that it has not followed its own regulations.

It would be far easier - and fairer - if the council took over the running of these non-commercial bazaars. Small, individual and locally based organisations should still be allowed to run their own events as a one-off (or with, say, a maximum of three a year) so that the school PTAs, non-profit making groups and local charities do not suffer.

But on days when there is no demand, then the council should run the fairs, charge the stallholders and pass the takings on to a list of approved national charities.

Of course there would be extra work involved for the council - but those staff costs could simply be taken out of the fees charged to stallholders. Indeed, the council could even make a profit out of this and either reduce the overall costs to the small local charities which wish to organise their own events or reduce our council tax bills.

Certainly the way one charity has monopolised town hall bookings through an agent leaves us with a feeling of unease.