COLCHESTER’S Oyster Feast could be filled with volunteers and pensioners next year with the Mayor-in-waiting hoping to open up the showpiece event.

Julie Young wants to keep the great tradition of the annual feast but is hoping to encourage sponsors to subsidise tickets for those who work to support the town.

Attendances at the civic event have fallen by almost 100 in the past five years with many unable to afford, or unwilling, to pay the £95 for a ticket.

Labour councillor Mrs Young wants to be able to welcome a wider variety of people to next year’s event so everyone has a chance to join in the great Colchester tradition.

She said: “My aim is for it to become a much more inclusive event.

“I am working to try to achieve that.

“We want a greater mix of people including those who cannot afford the ticket.

“It is a fantastic event and I am hoping to find sponsorship to open it up.

“Having volunteers is a great idea, tThe people who make a great contribution to the town.

"I was also thinking about pensioners, such as the ones who attended the Alternative Oyster Feast.

“It is about opening the doors to a wider group of people.”

Ticket prices are set to be frozen for the second year in a row.

A report, to be considered by Colchester Council’s cabinet tonight, states: “In respect of the Opening of the Oyster Fishery and the Oyster Feast, there continues to be a noticeable impact on the numbers of guests willing to attend these events in the current economic climate.”

In 2011, there were 277 people at the Oyster Feast.

This dropped to 169 in 2014, but did rise to 186 this year.

A spokesman for the council, in a statement contradicting the report, said: “Ticket prices were frozen not because of disappointing sales but to make them more affordable to people in the current economic climate.”

Councillor Dave Harris helps organise the Alternative Oyster Feast where pensioners are given free fish and chips.

He claimed the high ticket prices at the official Oyster Feast excludes most people who cannot afford it.

He said: “It has always been for the great and the good which is why we set up the alternative.

“It would be a wonderful thing to open it up to volunteers and the right thing to do, to recognise the people who support others.”