TOWN councillors are preparing to stage Tavistock’s iconic Goose Fair this year - but they have been warned that an upsurge in Covid-19 cases could spell an end to their plans.

Last year, Covid-19 killed off any prospects of the fair being run for the first time in living memory and there are still doubts they it may go ahead this October, town councillors have been told.

Members of the council’s budget and policy committee heard that the fair, which traditionally runs in October, was at the planning stage, with traders and stallholders saying they will attend the event, which attracts thousands of people to Tavistock and which is seen as an important part of the town’s economy.

The main problem facing the town council - and co-organiser West Devon Borough Council - is that it is impossible to limit numbers attending the sprawling event as it is at organised sporting events.

Councillors from both authorities have expressed their concerns about public safety at a fair which sees members of the public literally cheek by jowl.

Tavistock mayor Andy Hutton, a former GP, said he believed the event should go ahead as people learned to live with the virus.

He said: ‘I hope that it is going to go ahead. We have got to learn to live with Covid - we know the numbers (of infections) will go up but people have been jabbed against it.

‘People want to get going with living again and we have to learn to live with it.’

Committee chairman Harry Smith made it clear that he felt the ‘wait and see’ tactic was the best way for the council to proceed.

He said: ‘I think it’s a sensible approach. We have got the plan in place, but everybody should be aware that it might not happen.’

The town council’s general manager, Wayne Southall, told members of the budget and policy committee that there were plans to go ahead with the event ‘at this stage’. That followed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that the majority of Covid-19 restrictions would be lifted by July 19.

Mr Southall, however, pointed out the fair was held at a difficult time of the year, when Covid-19 infections would be expected to increase. And he said because of the nature of the fair if more social distancing measures were brought in by the Government, the event would not be viable, although he said they were looking at various contigency plans.

He said: ‘It’s probably one of the most challenging times of the year and probably October is going be one of the most challenging as we know from last year. We will plan for the event, but there is a possibility that Goose Fair will not go ahead.’

Mr Southall said there was a challenge with a shortage of volunteers and stewards to help run the event at the moment.

He added: ‘Showmen are and traders are on board and geared up for the event to happen. All we can say is that it is going ahead, but we will monitor it and be aware that it may not happen this year.’

West Devon Borough Council, which provides car park space for the fair and also mounts a clean-up operation of the town afterwards, said they were ‘closely following any changes to government guidance for public health and safety’.

Cllr Tony Leech, the borough council’s Lead Member for Leisure, Health and Wellbeing said they would support the town council with their planning.