LAST year the popular Christmas parade in Westhoughton was held without the aid of a grant.

This year, the parade will not go ahead because an application for a grant has been refused.

Organiser, former mayor, Peter Finch has accused the decision makers on the Three Towns Forum of being "unfestive Scrooges".

They say he put in the application too late and that the parade should be run using private cash or sponsorship as it was last year.

The bickering continues, but whatever the reasons, or the rights and wrongs of the arguments, it seems as though the children in Westhoughton will be the ultimate losers.