wily charities have found a loophole leaving councillors, facing a climb down over their tough garden fete rules.

Dartmouth Town Council currently bans organisations from subletting charity fundraising fete days on Royal Avenue Gardens.

But at least one charity has got around the rule by simply not bothering to ask the council in the first place – and going straight to the South Hams Council, which owns the gardens, for permission.

And now the town councillors reckon there is no point in continuing to try and enforce the ban if charities can get around it so easily.

Robin Springett, chairman of the town's corporate property committee, told councillors: 'South Hams Council does not have a problem with anybody using the gardens. It is not interested as long as they have public liability insurance.'

Royal Avenue Gardens is seen as a prime fundraising venue for local organisations and some 30 to 40 fetes of one kind or another go on their every year – involving both the grounds and the 'amenity hut'.

The town council charges for the use of the amenity hut but it has spent years arguing with South Hams Council over who actually runs the gardens.

At one stage the town council wanted to restrict the use of the gardens to local organisations only – but South Hams Council vetoed that.

The town council also tried to hammer out a deal where it ruled over the smaller events while the district council sorted out the major ones, such as the regatta.

The town council managed to get the fundraisers banned on the town's market days following complaints from traders their customers were being siphoned off.

But Cllr Debbie Morris said there was now a potential clash between the town and district councils over the sub-letting rule.

She said the town council had enforced the rule to stop charities fundraising on the backs of other organisations' fetes and to stop commercial stalls from homing in.

The committee is recommending that the council gets around the conflict by forgetting about the sub-letting rule – as long as the 'parent' group has public liability insurance and can assure the council any extra organisation is covered or has its own insurance.

But councillors were adamant that the stalls that do show up have to be up to a certain standard. Cllr Springett said it would be okay 'as long as the stalls are not incredibly tacky'.

And Cllr Rob Lyon added: 'Occasionally there are some that spread their tables with stuff that you would have no trouble throwing in the bin.'