TAVISTOCK's annual literary festival, which attracts people from all over the world, has been forced to cancel due to lack of funding.

The festival, which was due to take place in two months' time, failed to attract desperately needed grants from funding bodies. Organisers were left with no choice but to cancel.

Artistic director Roselle Angwin, a freelance creative tutor, said she was furious at the way funding was allocated

'It squeezes festivals like mine out of the picture,' she said.

And she admitted her heart had gone out of the event and doubted whether it would ever be revived.

The September hands-on festival, which attracted people from all over the world, would have been in its fifth year. It had grown into a nationally recognised project and offered a programme of workshops as well as talks and readings.

Roselle Angwin said South West Arts was unable to offer funding and this year West Devon Borough Council had not applied for Objective Two funding for festivals.

'The organisers have been left with no alternative but to cancel,' she said. 'I am still getting calls and e-mails from all over the world — people are so disappointed it is not going to take place.'

The festival was the brainchild of Roselle Angwin, who decided five years ago to run an annual event in Tavistock focusing on amateur writers' own creativity.

She said: 'I was a one-man band with a generous committee. We paid the authors and poets and chose the ones who really knew how to tutor. About half the audience was made up of local people and the other half came from all over the world. We used Dartmoor's unique landscape which provided stimulation and inspiration.

'We felt we were doing something really good. Our workshop concentrated on the writers' own creativity - they were encouraged, not talked at. I am desperately disappointed.

'I feel very strongly about its cancellation. The festival never had proper financial support. One year we had a total of £180 from South West Arts and then nothing for the other years. The trouble is we can't reapply to the same body for funding.'

She said the event cost about £7,000 to stage, which paid for a good venue, publicity and the tutors' fees.

Many of those who participated in previous years have since been published and bookings for September had been flowing in.

'Although we have always received generous support from local businesses, workshops involving top-flight novelists and poets still need to be subsidised,' said the artistic director.

'We would like to thank all those who have supported our previous four festivals.'

Nick Capaldi, South West Arts executive director, said: 'Although the application had some strong points, unfortunately there wasn't enough information about the programme and the participants for us to award funding.

'The application process is very competitive and we receive a very large number of applicants each year. Sadly, we cannot support all the applications.

'We have suggested that the group applies to two other funds and we can help them to improve their applications and guide them through the process.'

South West Arts said applications for grants amounted to more than £100,000 this year and the body had awarded £40,000.