THE future funding of North Wiltshire's arts festivals is still in limbo after signs the new system of localised financing is failing.

North Wiltshire District Council scrapped its arts festivals budget this year and asked its area committees to support their local festivals from their own budgets.

But Chippenham's Area 3 Committee has complained that the cost of hosting its festivals, which includes the two-day Eddie Cochran Festival, is putting a strain on its finances.

At a meeting of the council's executive meeting on Thursday, councillors underlined the importance of the arts to Wiltshire, but a decision about reinstating the £15,000 arts festival budget was deferred to allow time to come up with specific proposals at its next meeting.

"We cannot quantify the good these events do for the community and as a council we have to show that we do care," Coun Doreen Darby said.

Coun David Evans added: "I think we need to support arts festivals because they improve the quality of life for people living in the local area."

A report presented to the executive said the arts festival budget was never meant to provide an annual subsidy for the district's festivals, but was intended to help support new festivals in their early years.

The report said that while some festivals are self-sufficient, others rely on the council's cash to help reduce ticket prices and attract bigger crowds.

As part of the 2003/04 budget process the separate fund for arts festivals was chopped, because the administration felt it made better financial sense to fund the festivals locally.

Chippenham's Area 3 Committee's letter to the executive pointed out that the district council's policy of equal funding was disproportionate to local populations. The matter first came to light in October when Chippenham's letter was included in a report presented to the executive committee.