A popular family event that sees scores of people dress up as fairies and elves has been cancelled - following complications over insurance.

Organisers of the Manor Fairy Day, held at Chances Park in Morton, Carlisle, said that they were stunned to discover that all stallholders taking part in the event would need to have an insurance policy that included public liability cover to the cost of £5m - as well as product liability cover to the same value.

The event is co-ordinated by the Friends of Chances Park, Morton Manor and party organiser Mel Rickerby.

Iris Rogan, chairman of the Friends of Chances Park, claimed that it was a sudden change in the protocol for previous fairy days.

She told The News & Star: “This would’ve been the seventh year that we were holding the Fairy Day.

"We submitted all the paperwork in March.

"Every other year, everyone taking part has only needed to have public liability insurance of some kind.

“But on July 7 we were told that they had to have a minimum of £5m.”

Iris said that this has presented a major problem for some stallholders.

“Not everyone can afford the cost,” she said.

“It would’ve been a problem for about five of the 12 stalls but we thought it wasn’t fair to just have seven, given what we’ve had before, so we’ve decided to cancel the event.

“I don’t know why they [Carlisle City Council] didn’t tell us when we submitted the paperwork.

"We’ve been given such short notice.”

Mel Rickerby, who is known as Magical Mel, added: “I’m absolutely devastated.

“It’s been such a big success over the past six years.

"We approached them in March and they didn’t give us any indication about any amendments to public liability insurance.”

Mel added that after having a discussion, the only thing to do was to cancel the event completely.

“I didn’t think it was fair on everyone to have some traders there but not others,” she said.

“It’s a bit like saying you can come, but you can’t. We didn’t want to exclude some people.”

However, she is hopeful that the fairy day will return in 2018.

“I’ve hung up my wings for now,” she said. “But definitely, we’ll be back next year.”

A spokeswoman for Carlisle City Council said: “Although we encourage and support local events, we also have to make sure that they are safe for those who attend them.

"More than half of the exhibitors booked to appear at this year’s Manor Fairy Day could not provide adequate insurance information, which is a basic requirement for any public event.

“We contacted the organisers immediately after last year’s event to draw to their attention to a number of safety issues which had given us cause for concern.

"We want to make sure that everyone can have fun and stay safe at the events taking place on our premises.

"If the appropriate safeguards were in place, the event could go ahead as planned.”