ST PETER may have to pull out of next year’s Battle of Flowers unless more young people begin showing an interest in their exhibit.

The float-builders say they have been let down by parishioners this year and are having to drop many elements of their design because of a major lack of support. The parish’s Battle chairman, Pauline Clarke, said that the team had been plagued by problems this year. These began when the marquee where they build their float was hit badly by storms.

And while usually the team have between six and eight men building their float, this year they have had just two. ‘It’s not going as well as we would like, and we are behind schedule,’ said Mrs Clarke. ‘We have had very limited support so far. On the building side we’ve had a couple of people who have sadly passed away and a couple who can’t come down to help because they are ill.

‘We are an ageing group and people are finding it more difficult to do the work that they once did. So we would really like a younger element now.’

This year the parish’s float has a film theme and will show various aspects of movies from throughout the years. Included in this will be an old-fashioned film going through a camera, which is one of the elements where the team have had to make cuts.

• Picture: Pauline Clarke gets on with the work at St Peter with the help of Andy Buckley and Tony Biard (by Jon Guégan)