A DISPUTE over prize money and car parking charges means that there will not be a Flower Show at this year's St Helens Show, which is running from Friday July 27 to Sunday July 29 in Sherdley Park.

The announcement by St Helens Council has disappointed and angered horticulturists in the area, who rejected prizes in vouchers and refused to pay the £4-a-day car park charge.

In previous years, prize winners have been awarded cash prizes, but this year, a change in sponsorship has meant that winners would have received vouchers for a local gardening centre instead.

And in talks with St Helens council, Bernard Wood from the Whiston Horticultural Society, says that he was told that funds were not available for prize money, a claim which he rejects.

Speaking to the Star he said that entrants would not have been happy with a prize awarded in vouchers. He added: "Keen gardeners don't go to normal garden centres, they go to specialist centres to get specialist products, so these vouchers would have been useless to the winner. We are also angry that entrants would have had to pay car park fees when they would have to go back each day to check their displays."

A council spokesperson said: "The current cost of staging the flower show event is in excess of £10, 000. In recent years, the number of exhibitors has dwindled to less than fifty. Show organisers have put a lot of work into trying to boost and widen the event and did actually secure £1, 500-worth of vouchers as prizes for this years event. Unfortunately this was not acceptable to the flower committee organisers who wanted cash prizes."

"Because flower committee members failed to reach agreement with show organisers it was decided not to proceed with the event this year. This decision was taken after some deliberation. Show organisers felt that time to organise such an event was running out and that justice could not be done to the flower show in the period left. The council has done its upmost over the years to maintain this aspect of the annual St Helens Show, but the marked decrease in the numbers of exhibitors has made it less viable."

"Such is the council's commitment to this type of event that show organisers are looking at ways to improve and widen the event to attract more exhibitors for next year."