HUNDREDS of years of tradition will be broken after Thame Fair was cancelled with just two weeks’ notice.

The fair, which was due to take place between September 21 and 23, will no longer go ahead after organisers refused to renew their deal with Thame Town Council.

On Friday the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain rejected the council’s offer to enter into a new four-year agreement, which was £1,000 more expensive than the last.

The council said it was ‘disappointed’ about the decision but said the price hike was ‘modest’ and ‘fully justified’ and equated to £4 extra per day per stall holder.

Stallholder Joe Noyce, who is currently at the Witney Feast with his Skyflyer ride and carousel and planned to take his rides to the Thame Fair, said: “It’s not all about money. We could do free rides for an hour so they could see it’s not about the money. It’s about tradition more than anything.”

It is understood the council had offered the guild another contract and asked them for a decision on whether the fair could go ahead with those conditions before 5pm on Monday but no agreement was reached.

Mr Noyce added: “We are trying to keep it moving. The guild is saying: ‘we want to go’, it’s as simple as that.

“The rent has been going up and up for the last 10 years. People are taking small stalls and it’s not out of financial gain - they wouldn’t be earning anything.”

Mr Noyce used the example of a stallholder running an hoopla stall, who he claimed would be required to stump up more in rent and could see any small profit they would make from attending the fair wiped out.

He added: “It’s a bad situation. Some families have been going there for generations. I would say some of them have been going for 130 to 140 years.”

Residents in Thames rallied round to collect money in an attempt to save the fair, but about £400 raised has since been rejected and returned by the town council.

Mr Noyce said the deadline given to the guild was not the first given by the council and that negotiations could still continue. He added: “This is the fourth deadline we’ve had. We got in touch and got a final deadline before. It’s not like it’s the first one we’ve had.”

The council was contacted but declined to comment. Whether its latest contract has been accepted will be known on Tuesday morning.