MORECAMBE'S internationally renowned WOMAD festival is facing the axe after North West Water pulled the plug on its sponsorship deal.

The flagship event, which is advertised in this summer's holiday brochure, is doomed unless another corporate sponsor can be found.

The water company claims it told the city council that it was pulling out of WOMAD last September.

But the council says it is devastated by the news and is now doing all it can to keep the festival afloat in the wake of protests from Morecambe's tourism industry.

Graeme Last from the Hoteliers Association said: "It was one of the longer weekend events which attracted lots of visitors and publicity. It was Morecambe's only international event and it will be very sad to see it go. It doesn't make any sense after all the investment made in the Festival Hall and the Platform, which were developed on the back of events like WOMAD. The Council must have known that this was on the cards but with Morecambe Tourism is such disarray at the moment it looks like nothings been done about it."

Cllr Jean Yates said she was upset by North West Water's decision to stop its sponsorship.

"I was involved with trying to get WOMAD into Morecambe from the start and to say I'm heartbroken would be an understatement. We're trying hard to get another big corporate sponsor and if anyone came forward they would be given the red carpet treatment and hailed as heroes. The council just can't pick up the tab for an event like WOMAD but we're not giving up."

A spokesman from NWW said: "It was widely known that we were sponsoring the event for three years as part of our Sea Charge initiative. Last September we indicated that we would be scaling down our financial contribution. Our staff worked hard to make WOMAD a success and we believe we left it in good stead."

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