THE town where carnival bunting was banned on health and safety grounds is at the centre of another row.

Last summer, Ferndown’s carnival committee was told it could not hang the multi-coloured plastic flags across Victoria Road for carnival week because the lampposts might fall down.

But now the town council has itself put up bunting for a civic twinning event.

A fact sheet sent out by Dorset County Council last year said street lighting columns were not “generally designed to be strong enough to support any additional attachments.”

It added that even “relatively light additions” can lead to “considerable extra load” in strong wind.

A county council spokesperson confirmed that the council had had concerns about the risk of attaching things to lampposts in a worn structural condition, especially as the bunting could sag and become entangled in passing traffic such as buses.

But now, as 90 visitors from Ferndown’s twin town of Segré flock to the town for their bi-annual visit, bunting has been strung up along lampposts in the pedestrianised precinct of Penny’s Walk, sparking anger from the carnival organisers.

Carnival committee chairman Jane Harding said: “It seems it’s one rule for them and another for us. We don’t get a lot of support from the local council so this feels like a kick in the teeth.

“What if one of the lampposts fell on someone in the pedestrianised area?”

Ferndown Town councillor John Cullen said: “This does not contravene the same issues that affected the carnival last year. It is not over a public highway and it is on private property.

“The order last year came from the county council and although I understand the frustration this must have caused the carnival committee, it is not the same situation. The bunting has been put up to brighten Penny’s Walk for our visitors on this important occasion.”