The opening event of this year's Brighton Festival is under threat because of the traffic it causes.

The colourful children's parade is one of the highlights of the festival calendar and attracts thousands of visitors every year. It features hundreds of local schoolchildren who spend weeks making lavish costumes.

But now the police, the council and Brighton and Hove Buses have raised concerns about the routing of the event, which they say causes traffic gridlock for miles around.

Now organisers are asking traders in the North Laine to agree for the parade to be rerouted through the area so it avoids main roads. Members of the North Laine Traders Association are expected to vote at a meeting on February 29 on whether to allow the carnival through to Pavilion Gardens instead of its normal route from the seafront across the A259 and North Street.

Peter Stocker, secretary of the association, said: "Serious concerns have been put forward that the parade was causing so much chaos and mayhem that buses were being cancelled and the town centre was being gridlocked for several hours. We have told the council that we have no objections in principal to it going through the North Laine but it is up to our members."

He added: "I think it would be very sad if it was cancelled. My own kids have been involved in it for about 12 years. It is one of the few participatory events for kids."

Roger French, managing director of Brighton and Hove Buses, said the parade caused delays for motorists and passengers all the way to Rottingdean and Newhaven. Mike Wright, traffic engineer for Brighton and Hove Council, was confident traders would agree to the parade taking place in the North Laine.

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