Carnival organisers blame council for 'scare stories'

Organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival claimed yesterday that the future of Europe's biggest street festival was being jeopardised by a deliberate campaign to undermine public confidence in the event.

Claire Holder, Notting Hill Carnival Trust chief executive, accused the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea of spreading scare stories designed to force the carnival off the streets of west London.

She said: "Sponsors are being deterred by all the negative publicity put out by the council and that, I feel, is irresponsible."

Yesterday council officials and police held an hour-long emergency meeting with the Home Office minister Bob Ainsworth to discuss fears about safety at the event over the August bank holiday weekend. Last year one man was fatally stabbed, another was kicked to death and there were a further 19 knifings and 129 arrests among crowds estimated at two million.

This year the Metropolitan Police will deploy an extra 1,200 officers at Carnival after the force was criticised last year for being too soft on criminals.

A contingent of 600 stewards will be present this year but the council claimed they were still being recruited – and had not yet been trained.

The trust said that the stewards would begin training for the event tomorrow.