THE Festival of Light and Water could yet be saved - but only by private sponsorship.

Lancaster City Council last month voted to trim its festivals budget as a cost-cutting measure.

Out went the Festival of Light and Water and all other council-run festivals apart from a core of four.

That decision provoked outrage and was eventually called in by the council's regulatory body, the overview and scrutiny committee.

It decided to ask the Cabinet to look for sponsorship and grants to keep the Festival of Light and Water and other similar events alive.

But a meeting of Cabinet on Tuesday was told that all sponsorship avenues had been explored before the decision to axe the festivals was taken.

"Significant efforts have been made and will continue to be made to attract sponsorship for festivals and events," says council leader Cllr Ian Barker.

The Festival of Light and Water was the biggest casualty of the cost-cutting measures, which left the council with just four core events each year.

They are the Punk Festival, the Heritage Gala, the Jazz Festival and the Lancaster Fireworks Spectacular.

Overview and scrutiny committee chairman Cllr Roger Mace said: "There was a lot of vocal response after the decision in particular to the Light and Water Festival and the council needs to look into any way of attracting funding."