Notting Hill Carnival to stay on streets

Organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival have refused to bow to pressure to use Hyde Park and will keep this year's procession in the streets of west London, it was confirmed today.

Mounting pressure from Mayor Ken Livingstone - who helps fund the August Bank Holiday event - had forced carnival chiefs to consider whether to use the park as a start or end point.

A recent report from one of the Mayor's top advisers warned that the event, which attracts a million revellers, was heading for a major tragedy unless more was done to ease overcrowding in Notting Hill.