CHILDREN look set to miss out on a popular Christmas treat because of health and safety costs facing a fairground operator.

John Collins Funfairs was due to feature as part of the Knutsford Christmas Market over the last weekend in November.

The fair would offer six or seven children’s fairground rides, but faces being cancelled because of a Cheshire East Council charge for ‘health and safety due diligence’ checks.

John Collins said the business faced having to pay a minimum of £1,700, and possibly as much as £2,500, for checking documents.

He said the charge would make the two-day children’s fair at the Cheshire East car park behind Waitrose in Knutsford unviable, as it would lose money.

Mr Collins said he was still hopeful a solution could be found, but added: “However as things stand, the fair at Knutsford will not be going ahead unless there is some change to the fee paid to this outside company.

“This documentation has been in place for as long as I can remember, we cannot operate without it, and we are talking about 15 documents, tops, to check.

“We cancelled a full fair in Congleton last week because of the charge, and I think children will be disappointed if the Knutsford fair doesn’t go ahead.”

A Cheshire East Council spokesman said: “The council is dealing with a large number of requests to stage funfair events and other attractions on council-owned land and, in this particular case, we are working with the operator and Knutsford Town Council to ensure that this event can take place.

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“We recognise that all these events are important to the towns in which they are held, and do not wish to prevent them from going ahead.

“However, there is a cost associated with essential health and safety due diligence to ensure that members of the public, the operator and the council are properly protected.”

Concern was voiced over the charge at Knutsford Town Council, with Cllr Quentin Abel offering to take up the matter with Cheshire East Council.

Town clerk Adam Keppel-Green said Cheshire East had changed its policy in relation to fairgrounds, and the charge to the John Collins Funfairs for health and safety assessments meant there was a ‘reasonable chance’ the children’s fairground would not go ahead.

He added that the cancellation of the fairground would also hit the council’s budget, as £1,100 of income was anticipated from the fair.

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“The council have adopted a new policy since we last had a funfair,” he said.

“Any funfair that takes place on their land is subject to a very stringent series of checks by an external company in checking all the documentation.

“For a fair that may last a week or so that could be a fee a fairground provider could stomach – for a two-day fair it probably isn’t.”

Cllr Abel said: “On the basis that Cheshire East are very keen on encouraging the High Street I would suggest this is a retrograde step.”