Children banned from 'dangerous' May Day parade

School children have been banned from standing in a guard of honour at a town's annual May Fair celebrations - because it's too dangerous.

Parents of the children in Torrington, north Devon, have criticised the move after organisers of the traditional celebrations deemed the children would be at too much of a risk standing in a line holding bouquets.

In previous years all 200 children from Great Torrington's Bluecoat Infant and Nursery school have provided a guard of honour in the town square during the procession of the May Queen.

But this year the town's May Fair committee and the head teachers of the infant and nursery school said there's a danger from crowding because a growing school population means there are too many children to fit in the square.

Now parents have started a petition objecting to the ban saying it is a nail in the coffin of the town's May Day tradition.