EUROCRATS and British red tape may be combining to put one of the Cotswolds' most popular events at risk.

A combination of sky-high insurance charges and new costs being proposed by the Civil Aviation Authority may make airshows uneconomic.

And organisers at last weekend's Kemble airshow were quick to warn of the dangers for the future.

Glen Moreman, events co-ordinator and airshow organiser at Kemble, admitted the long term prospects for Kemble Air Day did not look good.

He said: "The whole future of small air shows is at risk. It won't affect the Royal International Air Tattoo because they are a military show but it will affect the smaller shows such as ourselves."

The insurance problem comes because the European Union has applied new mandatory insurance guidelines, which place a WWII Boeing B-17 bomber in the same category as a Boeing 737 airliner - and charge the same multi-million pound insurance rates.

The problem from the CAA comes because the costs of administering airshows by the general aviation department are not fully recovered, and the 'shortfall' is effectively a subsidy from commercial aviation.

The airlines are now demanding that this stops.

In the past the CAA has reminded the airlines that they recruit most co-pilots from general aviation, and if they didn't they would have to set up an expensive training scheme.

Also the airlines do not pay VAT on fuel, while GA pilots do. However this time the CAA has agreed to investigate the airline's claims.

The Air Display Association Europe said: "Many figures have been published but it seems probable that the costs to the airshow industry will rise by as much as 500 percent making, for example, the cost of permission for a friend to fly his Tiger Moth at your village fete in excess of £500.

"The larger airshows will pay considerably more, possibly reaching £10,000 for a two-day event. Our Industry must lobby hard to ensure that the CAA Board throws out these specious arguments from the airlines."

Glen Moreman also explained the problems lay in other costs which will now spiral as a result of the insurance and CAA costs rising.

He said the overall running costs of the air show will increase more and more over the coming years and admitted ticket prices for future shows at Kemble may also have to rise as a result.

If airshows are badly affected, it will hit a huge number of spectators who visit Kemble from all over the country.

John Davis, the Display Director at Kemble, said: "Airshows are the second largest outside spectator event after soccer, with six million people attending."

Visitors to last weekend's Kemble show were dismayed by the news. Trevor Roper had travelled from Brighton and said: "I think it's a bit of a tragedy because I think there's a gap which Kemble fills with classic jets. It's different from any other airshow, it flies a lot more jets and it's unique in that respect."

Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown admitted it would be unfortunate of the airshow could not continue.

He said: "It would be sad to see it go but I do want to see adequate insurance. That is very important because if one of the planes did crash the damage to life and property would be significant."