EXMOOR has lost its biggest free night-time attraction as organisers of the annual Dulverton Carnival announced the event was being consigned to the history books.

The 2013 carnival has been cancelled with the five-strong management team behind the popular procession confirming the number of entries did not justify it continuing.

The decision ends a tradition in the town dating back around 150 years.

"It is very sad but we are just not getting the floats anymore," said management team member Keith Ross.

Mr Ross, along with his wife Jan and fellow Dulverton resident Paul Chanter, helped revive the carnival in 1979 after a break of more than 22 years.

"When I moved here in 1958 the carnival had just ended the year before," he said.

The event was once a hugely popular feature of the autumn calendar, taking place over the first weekend of October.

Over the past 33 years it has attracted thousands of spectators and at its peak featured as many as 30 floats.

"Last year we had just five and a few walking entries," said Mr Ross.

"We always said we'd stop when the number of floats dropped to ten but we have kept on trying to rekindle interest."

Last year, potential float builders were even offered £100 to help cover their costs.

"Even that didn't seem to have any effect," said Mr Ross.

"The local young farmers clubs have been brilliant and very supportive over the years but last year we only had two who put in entries.

"An event like this is a lot of hard work and Dulverton is a small community.

"The carnival has always had a tradition of providing great entertainment and bringing a lot of people from across the moor.

"But it seems that people are just too busy these days or can't afford to create the floats."

In its golden years the carnival, which costs around £2,000 to stage, attracted crowds of up to 4,000, with people lining the route of the parade four deep.

But as the number of entries has dwindled, so have the spectators.

"We still get at least a couple of thousand people and those who come have always seemed to enjoy it," said Mr Ross.

"The cost is covered through bucket collections on the night but you can't keep on flogging something if it just isn't worth carrying on."

His wife Jan said: "We've really tried to increase the number of entries but nothing seems to have worked.

"You can't encourage people to come along and watch and then put on a parade with just a handful of floats.

"We had started to get some negative comments and when it gets to that point, you know the time has come to stop.

"It is a great shame but it had a break in the past and hopefully it might be revived again in the future."

The £2,000 raised from the 2012 carnival, which would have paid for this year's parade, will probably be distributed among local charities if no revival plans are forthcoming in the near future.