IT attracts up to 30,000 people and generates thousands of pounds for York's economy.

But organisers of the forthcoming York Roman Festival say council bosses put it in jeopardy by withdrawing their grant in favour of smaller events.

Nick Eggleton, a spokesman for this month's week-long extravaganza, said they had been forced to downsize the festival because of a funding shortage.

City of York Council awarded £6,000 to the festival last year out of the Cultural Events Fund, but nothing this time around because of budget constraints. The city's biggest festival, the York Food and Drink Festival, has also had its handout slashed.

Mr Eggleton criticised the council's decision to award grants to "smaller" events such as the Lesbian Arts Festival And Jazz Festival at their expense.

"Our festival entertains tens of thousands of people," he said.

"I'm disappointed because York's heritage is not being supported. We've had to make a few sacrifices. The council has to make some tough choices, but I think they should be supporting the Roman Festival.

"If it wasn't for Norwich Union sponsoring us there wouldn't be a festival."

But a City of York Council spokeswoman said it had more than £70,000 worth of requests for support this year, with only £32,000 available.

"It means that a number of organisations were unfortunately disappointed," she said.

"However, we do try to offer other forms of support to those organisations whose requests have not been successful, from putting them in touch with other potential funders to offering them help, resources and advice."

Mr Eggleton said: "The fact is that we have had to cut our cloth according to our means. Although we are doing more this year than last, the Hungarian Gladiator show has been cut down.

"We can't afford to do many activities we had planned. We are obviously disappointed."

The festival has raised £8,000 in private sponsorship for this year's event.

Councillor Charles Hall, Patron of the Festival, said: "The majority of the events are free and of great educational benefit to our children and it is important that they recognise and understand our heritage."

Michael Hjort, organiser of the York Food and Drink Festival, which attracts more than 150,000 visitors, said its council grant for this year had been "significantly reduced".

"We're aiming to find a way to make the event become self-supporting," he said.

"For many years we've had substantial council support, for which we're very grateful."

The council spokeswoman added: "We would challenge the view that the Lesbian Arts Festival and the Jazz Festival are fringe events. The Lesbian Arts Festival happens every November and attracts visitors from across Europe. It is the biggest festival of its kind in Europe and accounted for more than 2,000 visitor nights spent in York last year."

The Roman Festival runs from July 21 to July 30.