“Caribbean community can say of carnival: We created this – it is ours”

A WOMAN who has been taking part in Notting Hill Carnival since 1999 has defended the event amid calls for more funding to address safety issues.

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Carnival chairman Ian Comfort has sent a letter to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy asking for “urgent funding” to help safeguard the event, after organisers commissioned an independent review which identified “critical public safety concerns", although the full findings have not been made public.

The letter, first reported by the BBC, said a failure to secure “immediate” additional funding “risks compromising public safety and jeopardising the future of the carnival”.

It comes as Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said he was “frightened” by the number of people attending the carnival and the potential for crushes.

But Lynda Joseph, 64, said the carnival was “extremely important for London” and urged that it be kept funded and open with more roads opened to pedestrians to alleviate congestion.

The charity worker, who lives in Fulham, has run a Mas band float called Arawak at the event since 1999.