THE collection from Bridgwater Carnival raised £6,000 less than the previous year.

Despite the audience being estimated at between 125,000 to 150,000 people, the total raised was £20,777, down by £6,030 on the 2015 total.

The Carnival Committee highlighted that this may have been down to the fact there were less collectors than in previous years with the loss of two longstanding charities.

A spokesperson for Bridgwater Guy Fawkes Carnival, said: “Firstly we would like to take this opportunity to thank our collectors and those who kindly donated to our street collection during this year’s carnival.

“We didn’t raise as much as we had hoped, and we are continually looking at ways to improve our carnival procession and our street collection.

"Many of our other fundraising streams increased on carnival day and these include car park takings, the sale of souvenirs and coach bookings, to name just a few.

"We also raised an additional £1,100 from donations for the live streaming of the carnival, and these continue to come in.

“This year we lost a couple of long standing charities (Bridgwater Lions and British Red Cross) and this impacted fairly considerably on the number of collectors we had on the town’s streets.

“Some local charities who have helped us to provide a service at the event will receive a financial contribution, and we are always looking out for new charities to form partnerships with.

"Any charities or groups who are interested should email collection@bridgwatercarnival.org.uk”