Concerns have been raised about why profits made from an event during Hadleigh Christmas Fayre went to a private company and not the town council.

Hadleigh councillors at last Thursday's monthly meeting questioned why an events company were allowed to keep all the profits from the hiring cost to the 48 market stall holders, estimated to be in the region of £1,500 when the council made a loss on the event.

The report states how a contract was agreed between Raydon-based Acorn Events owners Acorn Liz Wilson and Stephen Coe and the town council.

This was negotiated by former town council manager Cheryl Tye and working group members that included Frank Minns and current councillor Gavin Talbot, although the clerk Wendy Brame confirmed at the meeting the contract did not have any signatories on it.

Cllr Talbot told Thursday's meeting that he had no dealings with the contract.

Cllr Huw Roberts thanked all involved in putting on the event, which received overwhelmingly positive feedback from residents and businesses.

Previously the events, without the erection of Christmas trees, cost council £3,000 but last year's cost more than double that.

Cllr Angela Wiltshire also pointed out that a craft fair held during the day in the Guildhall, which usually benefits the Hadleigh Market Charity, was also run by a private company.

Running the Christmas events, including the market, switching on the lights and putting up Christmas trees cost the town £11,781.

Sudbury town council charged Hadleigh £2,095 for community wardens road closure with two accredited marshals. Sudbury also charged the town £1,300 for the erection and removal of trees, that previously had been done by volunteers without controversy.

Cllr Roberts questioned why 'thousands' was spent on Sudbury wardens and volunteers were told they were not required.

The main income of the event came from grants including; Welcome Back Fund, £6,651 administered by Babergh, and the Suffolk Winter Growth Grant of £3,108.

However, the council suffered a financial loss in total of £ £387.14, which was covered from the reserves.

Councillors agreed to dissolve the 2021 working group and formed a new working group for 2022, taking on board recommendations from last year's events.

Cllr Roberts requested that all councillors were made aware of who is actually on the working group, after learning private organisations had previously been involved in organising the events.

See Hadleigh Christmas lights and market video here.

A breakdown of all the figures can be found in the working group's report on the Hadleigh town council's website here.