Attempts to revive a funday to celebrate Tolworth have been thwarted because of a shortage of time and support.

The cancellation of Tolworth Day has been branded as an example of the town suffering from "Cinderella syndrome" missing out on events enjoyed by the rest of the borough.

Divyan Desai, a former Tolworth trader who headed the organising committee, said he was disappointed the event had been axed as it had been a success in previous years.

Now he is calling for people to come forward to set up a group to promote Tolworth and put it in the spotlight.

Mr Desai said no one was to blame for the failure of this year's event, which was due to take place this Saturday, but he said that for Tolworth Day to be a success next year it was essential to get community support.

He said: "Tolworth Day will happen but it's just a question of backing.

"At the last event we had stalls on the streets, music, face painting it was very good, and we were trying to recreate that this year."

Mr Desai had hoped some of the funds from the event could be injected back into the community, including the local youth football team Samba YFC.

The previous Tolworth Days in 1999 and 2000 helped raise cash for local causes.

The first provided a cash boost for Tolworth Hospital and the second for a Millennium project to revamp a local allotment.

Tolworth councillor Vicki Harris joined the call for people to come on board and put Tolworth on the map.

She said: "I was very disappointed that we had to cancel Tolworth Day. Work had already gone into it it was such a shame we had to pull the plug.

"But there wasn't enough time to organise it safely and efficiently.

"But if we can get a group together of people who are keen to do something we could certainly make this an event for next year. The more people that come forward the better."

She also revealed there were plans to organise a similar event in Chessington on the same scale as Kingston's May Merrie and the Surbiton Festival to provide a boost for traders and the community.

ksaines@london.newsquest.co.uk