HAVING given a contribution to the carnival charities on entry to the site, we went to watch our granddaughter Emily Bone perform on stage with the Susan School of Dance, which was naturally very good.

On returning to Andover for the parade of floats, we were very concerned by the number of people selling ‘tails whistles and flags’ to the children before the parade came through. On asking an Andover carnival helper about any contribution these sellers made to the charities, we were told none.

Also that they did not need any ‘license’ to sell and even the police could not stop this practise so a lot of money was lost to the charities. Also the items varied between £1 and £3 for the same item with different sellers so they made a lot of money.

Did the people of Andover think they were part of the carnival?

Brian and Jenny Kay, Goodworth Clatford