ORGANISERS of an established charity fair were indebted to the Freemasons after being hit with an unexpected rise in hire costs just a day before the event was due to go ahead.

Community Action was told on Friday that the cost of hiring the venue at Malvern Theatres for the town's annual grand combined charity Fair had gone up by over £200.

But the extra cost was absorbed by sponsorship from the Freemasons and the event went ahead as planned.

Praising the Freemasons for their generosity, charity fair co-ordinator Mike McKnight explained the unexpected rise was down to Malvern Theatres having to employ staff to clear up after another event.

"Being a trust they have to pass the cost on and unfortunately as a charity we have limited funds so it caused a little bit of concern," Mr McKnight said.

He thought it was a last minute thing because the fair had such an early start. Members of 40 different organisations taking part turned up as early as 7am to start setting up stalls.

Mr McKnight said the fair itself, opened by Stanley Waddington, Master of the Freemasons' Royds Lodge, went extremely well.

Hilary Philpott, from Malvern Theatres, said the hire charge made to Community Action had remained the same for three years.

She added that the Theatres had contacted Community Action to sort out the situation prior to the event but the charity had been unable to meet with them.

"The difficulty was we had a show in the Forum on Friday and had to employ three people way into the night and the next morning to clear up," she said.