PLANS to stage May Day celebrations east of Magdalen Bridge have been scrapped due to city council budget cuts.

A Maypole, a dancing Ox, musicians and traditional entertainment had all been planned around The Plain on May 1 in a bid to include a part of the city cut off by the closing of the bridge. But the tightening of belts across the council has scuppered the plans.

City councillor Nuala Young, who represents St Clement’s ward, said: “We have had our area committee funding cut so there’s no way we can give any funding in support.

“For instance, we cannot do our own risk assessment, which would cost about £600.

“We also can’t really encourage any groups to come to our side of the bridge because we really do need to fund a bit towards an organiser.

“We could have got somebody doing a bit of organising and risk assessment for £800, but we’ve got very little money for the whole year and we have to look carefully at what we are doing.

“The city council doesn’t really want to take this on. It’s a great shame because it’s an important event for the people of Oxford and the people of our area.

“I was told it would be better not to have anything here so they could open the bridge as soon as the crowds have dispersed and people can get to work quicker.

“My reaction to that is the bridge is open 364 days a year for people to go and work in the city.

“This is a people’s festival where they take over the streets and reclaim the city — it’s hundreds of years of tradition.

“We had some really good ideas, but we just haven’t got the money to bring it together fast enough. If people come forward and want to do something off their own bats, then that would be great — people singing, playing music or creating costumes.”

She added: “It has come at the same time we have heard the Cowley Road Carnival won’t be going ahead this year, so it’s all very sad for East Oxford.

“It was put to me that the Lord Mayor’s procession will now end in South Park but that has happened before and it’s an event that doesn’t really capture the imagination like May Day.”

Mogg Morgan, of Oxford Interfaith Forum, which is against the exclusion of East Oxford from May Day through the closure of the bridge, said: “It’s very disappointing in lots of ways. The irony of it is the festival was originally an East Oxford event, it started there and only moved about 100 years ago when they moved the church.

“They’ve taken the event away and now excluded us, I’m very aggrieved about the whole thing.

“I know it’s the credit crunch, but why doesn’t the council save money by not paying for unnecessary policing to exclude us?

“There was an impromptu celebration here last year and people don’t need much encouragement to do it again.”

tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk