People in Horsforth are being urged to help save the gala -- which is in danger of folding after more than 130 years.

The group which organises the event has issued an urgent appeal for volunteers. And it is warning that the annual celebration simply cannot continue unless more helpers come forward.

The gala, which was first staged more than 130 years ago, has been run by the Friends of Hall Park for the past eight years. The popular event has raised many thousands of pounds which have made a large number of improvements possible at the park.

But now its future is in doubt because the committee which organises it has just four members, and more are desperately needed.

Committee members have met with representatives of Horsforth Town Council to warn that they are no longer able to shoulder the burden alone, and that the highly successful 2005 gala is likely to be the last unless more volunteers come forward.

One of the organisers Doug Holmes said: "Last year there were only four of us doing it, and it gets to such a stage a month before that the telephone never stops ringing, and you are more or less tied to it."

He said the small committee of four were not planning to back out, but were simply looking for more volunteers to help spread the workload.

"We are not stopping," he said. "What we are looking for is about five or six more people to join the team."

Mr Holmes said the present committee would simply not be able to carry on without more help - with the result that Horsforth would probably lose its major event.

He said: "It is the only event that Horsforth has, and if it stops it would be the end of a gala that has been going on for a very long time."

The event, which first began more than 130 years ago, has been run by the Friends for the past eight years.

It provides a fund-raising platform for local groups and charities and has also raised many thousands of pounds which have been ploughed back into improving the park.

Schemes which the gala have helped to fund include the disabled and able-bodied playground which opened at the park in 1999.

The park, which was at the forefront of inclusive play areas, is dedicated to the memory of Angela Magari, the founder of HIPPO, the Horsforth Integrated Playground Project.

Thousands more pounds have gone towards better signage to enable the park to obtain green flag status, a tarmaced area for parking, and anti-vandal stones on the walls of the Japanese garden.

Mr Holmes stressed the importance of the event to Horsforth and appealed for volunteers to come forward.

Mr Holmes can be contacted on 0113 2585740, or at 19 Hall Park Avenue, LS18 5LN.