CANDLELIGHT climate change protestors were forced to have an embarrassing whip round to pay for public liability insurance after they were barred from a public square in Totnes without the cover.

Now a row is brewing over why South Hams Council demanded the campaigners shelled out more than £100 for the insurance cover before allowing them to join thousands of other candlelit vigils for climate change action from the Copenhagen Summit.

Totnes district councillor Anne Ward: "This was a climate change vigil. Come on. This is a public space and people need to be able to express themselves publicly. It's part of the culture in Totnes, part of town life and it's been going on for donkey's years."

Meanwhile, Thalia Vitali, who helped organise the Totnes candlelit vigil, said she had been warned by the district council that she would not be allowed to hold the event in the Market Square without public liability insurance.

"I had to cough up £106," she said, although the organisers managed to raise £70 by asking for donations towards the expense.

Thalia added: "Normally that is not a thing that is done. One or two members were not happy that we were asking for money. I felt very uncomfortable and had to go to great lengths to explain why this had happened."

A council spokesman explained: "The council's public liability insurance does not cover other people holding events on council land. It is purely for council-organised events.

"It is a requirement that any person or organisation using our land for an event should hold public liability insurance to indemnify themselves again a member of the public making a claim against them as organisers of the event.

"We have a duty to ensure the safety of the public and it would be irresponsible of the council to allow uninsured events to go ahead."

The vigil at Totnes was organised to coincide with some 2,900 similar events being held across 139 countries to put pressure on world leaders to come up with climate change action at the Copenhagen Summit.

Around 50 protestors showed up at the Market Square on Saturday.

Thalia added: "The council stipulated that we would not get permission unless we had public liability insurance. I had to arrange it myself and send the paperwork to the council. Other council members were outraged and furious about this."

Ms Ward said she was currently trying to get some sort of council 'protocol' sorted out over the use of the Totnes square for public events following complaints this summer that women peace protestors marking Hiroshima Day were harassed by a council enforcement officer over peace mandala chalkings it was claimed were graffiti.

Speaking about the climate change vigil, she said: "Climate change is one of the most serious things which we have got to deal with. It's a big, big problem.

"We should be encouraging more people to express themselves in public and people should have the freedom to be able to do it."

Despite the problems over insurance, the vigil was hailed a success as Eileen Noakes, a well known environmental and peace activist, and a member of online campaign network Avaaz.org, said: "We need a deal that is ambitious enough to leave a planet safe for us all."

A similar vigil in the village of Blackawton attracted around 50 people.

"We are proud to see Blackawton playing its part in this global event on this crucial issue," said Ruth Coe, landlady at George pub, Blackawton, which donated mulled wine to the vigil.