Parishioners of St James’ Anglican Church, Morpeth, have been a fixture of the council festival since in its inception six years ago.

But this year the group has been denied a stall.

“We’ve been told stall space is limited within the new Levee venue and our product is not suitable food for the festival, which I dispute,” the church’s fundraising co-ordinator David Baldwin said.

“In fact, the excuses we have been given are fairly hollow.”

The decision has outraged fundraisers who were forced to cancel their pudding orders last week.

The church uses market stalls throughout the year to sell handmade chocolate puddings to raise money to support the ministry and maintenance of the 175-year-old historic Morpeth church.

“We make about $4000 at this event and the sale of these puddings represents about 15 per cent of our annual income, so it’s significant,” Mr Baldwin said.

“But one of the reasons we do this is to provide an outreach for the community and to let people know we are available, and that’s just so important because we like to get our face out there in a positive light.

“We are just one community group but [we] are concerned others have been treated the same way.

“We are just cranky enough to speak up about it.”

A council spokesperson said space was a consideration in The Levee precinct and round one allocation for stalls had been assigned.

“The second round of allocations is currently being assessed and potential stall holders will be notified in the coming days,” the spokesperson said.

But Mr Baldwin was concerned the parish was not the only community group to miss out on the exposure of the festival.

“If this is being promoted as a community event, I just hope the community isn’t being excluded the more successful [the festival] becomes,” he said.