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Visitors to the Fêtes de Bayonne may have to pay to join in the celebrations, if a proposal from the mayor goes ahead.

AJean-René Etchegaray proposed charging visitors to the hugely popular event between €5 and €7 on the Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday of the festival to cover the €1.55million cost of staging it - most of which is spent on security.

Mr Etchegaray said that the annual five-day festival attracts up to 250,000 visitors a day - but only those people visiting from out of town would pay the fee.

His proposals were opposed by socialist town councillor Colette Capdevielle, who argued that visitors faced enough demands on their wallets from the cost of souvenirs, food and drink without adding an entrance fee to the bill of a day at the festival.

This year's festival runs from Wednesday, July 25, to Sunday, July 29.