A UNIQUE tradition could go up in flames if carnival organisers cannot find a new place to store dozens of “big heads”.

For six decades, residents wearing huge papier-mâché heads have marched through the streets of Harwich as part of the Guy Carnival.

The carnival, which has been running for 160 years, sees the “big heads” join together for a torchlit procession through the town as part of an annual tradition.

The event is believed to have been started by Royal Naval Shipyard apprentices in 1854 in conjunction with remembering Guy Fawkes - with the big heads first introduced by the workers of Parkeston Quay’s Marine Workshops 62 years ago.

But the “big head” tradition could come to an end if carnival organisers cannot find a new place to store them in time.

Betty Holbrook, a carnival volunteer, said the heads can no longer be stored in Trinity House, in The Quay, as the company needs more workspace.

Wendy Taylor-Jones, who makes the heads, said there are more than 80 heads currently stored in Trinity House.

Mrs Taylor-Jones said: “The difficulty is that because they are papier-mâché and painted with gloss, over the years they get damp and can grow mould.

“So the place they are stored needs to be both dry and accessible.”

She said the storage place will need around three metres wide and six metres high.

She said: “Finding a storage place would mean the continuation of having the big heads in the carnival.

“If we can’t find a place to store them then we have to burn them as there is no other way of keeping them.

“It would be very sad to see them go up in flames as we really to want the next generation to get involved with the tradition.”

The heads have to be moved out of Trinity House by October 19.

A Trinity House spokesman said: "Spare storage capacity at the site has in the past few years enabled Trinity House to assist the Harwich Guy Carnival with some of its storage requirements - unfortunately, our increased storage requirements mean that we no longer have that spare capacity."