A BELOVED festival of arts faces closure after a search for two new directors fell flat.

Wantage Summer Festival co-chairwomen Linda Baines and Sylwia Korsak announced in September they would be stepping down, and launched an appeal for two arts lovers to take their place at the helm.

Now they have announced that not a single person has expressed an interest in the roles.

On Monday night, Wantage Town Council will hold a meeting to discuss whether to take on the festival itself, appoint a civic director using council funds, or leave the festival to finish.

Ms Korsak, who has moved to Bristol with her husband, said: "We didn't get any volunteers so we emailed the council to say would you like to take it on or should we shut it down?

"We asked the Vale and Downland Museum and a few other organisations but they didn't want to take it on which means the last organisation which could possibly take it on is the council."

The month-long celebration of art, music, comedy, drama and science has been taking place for more than 20 years.

The festival already has funding in place to run for the next two years from the town council and Vale of White Horse District Council, but if no new leadership is found it will have to be handed back.

It is the second time in two years the festival has faced closure: in 2015, following the retirement of chairman Julia Reynolds, it looked like folding until Ms Korsak and Dr Baines took it on.

Ms Korsak said she and Dr Baines had created a festival website and framework which would be easy for a new chairman or chairmen to work with for years to come.