THE chairman of the Taunton Flower Show company has hit back at claims he wants the historic event to leave Vivary Park.

Plans to introduce charges for use of the town centre site by Taunton Deane Borough Council prompted show organisers to announce they were considering alternative venues for the 166-year-old event.

The council says the charges - which the show says total 'five figures' - would cover repairs to the site and the loss of access for residents.

After the shock announcement, Taunton Flower Show company chairman Adrian Prior-Sankey said organisers were upset the council imposed the charge “without consultation” in January after this year’s charges had been finalised by the event’s committee.

He added: “It’s just not tenable - if we’d had this charge over the past 13 years, we’d be £100,000 short.

"The council has done what two world wars and flooding in 1997 couldn’t do by moving us out of the park. It’s a huge blow.”

But on Thursday, the council's cabinet member for planning and transportation, Roger Habgood, tweeted that 'the chairman wants to move'.

But Mr Prior-Sankey denied the claim.

He told the County Gazette: "My first preference without a doubt is to stay where we are at Vivary Park.

"We spoke to the council last year about doing a deal in terms of sharing the profits, but they have gone and done this (imposed charges)."

READ MORE: Council says flower show charges cover repairs and loss of access

Meanwhile, responding to the controversy, leader of Taunton Deane Borough Council, John Williams, defended the move.

“There is concern that Taunton Deane Borough Council is denying Taunton Flower Show access to Vivary Park as a venue for the well respected and long established Taunton Flower Show," he said.

"Nothing could be further from the truth.

"As part of budget setting it was agreed by the council that all users of the parks and open spaces, except Friends Associations, should pay a fair and proportionate fee for the use of our wonderful parks and open spaces when organising events.

"This was approved in 2016 for implementation in 2017 and received cross party support."

READ MORE: Click here to read Cllr Williams' response in full