THE late arrival of programmes for the European Town Crier Championships — hosted by Tavistock — was said to be one of the reasons the event had suffered a financial shortfall in funding of £3,176.
Speaking at Tavistock Town Council's recent finance and general purposes meeting, town crier Bob Rose said the programmes were promised for Monday but not delivered until Wednesday mid-day prior to the Saturday of the competition.
However, clerk Roger Howard told the committee the printers claimed they had 'pulled out every stop' to get the programme out saying they were not given the material in time.
Councillor Pat Warne said if the company undertook a contract they were given a deadline and if they failed they were at fault.
But Mr Rose said no formal contract had been signed between the championships and the printer.
Mr Howard said, although there was no contract with the council, everyone that had been involved had assumed it was the responsibility of the town council.
'I think if we went to court we might find ourselves vicariously liable,' he said.
Town mayor Judith Williams praised the event.
'Over the week the whole event was tremendous and the town criers that came said it was a first class event. They felt it was very worthwhile.'
She felt the council should accept responsibility for meeting the shortfall.
Mrs Williams said the championships had been extremely successful for the town and had given Tavistock good publicity in a European setting.
She thanked Mr Rose for his efforts and hoped that a more formal expression of the council's feelings would be forthcoming at a later date.