ENGLAND'S Euro 96 heroics have been blamed for Westhoughton's summer show making a loss.

The two-day carnival began on June 15, the same day as England beat Scotland at Wembley.

The show made a loss of £2,650 this year, after breaking even last summer.

The figures were revealed to councillors at a meeting of the leisure development and operations sub committee.

Chairman Cllr Steve Hynes said: "They were just very unlucky the show was that weekend.

"Everyone was really caught up in Euro 96 and stayed in to watch the match." The traditional carnival procession on the Sunday -with TV weatherman Fred Talbot as the celebrity - was well attended.

Meanwhile, it was also reported that the deficit on Bolton Show this year was £12,872.

Leisure chiefs always budget for the show, which is free of charge, to make a loss. This year, £14,495 was allocated for the cost of the show to the local authority.

In the early 1990s, the show made losses of around £19,000. More than 120,000 people attended the show over two days, plus a further 15,000 for the firework display, maintaining the show's status as the eighth largest of its kind in the country.

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