BABY show organiser Jeanette Von Berg is determined to make the event she saved when it was dropped from the carnival calender a huge success as she prepares to step down from her role.

Mrs Von Berg, 84, who is recovering from an operation on her right foot that put her out of action for five weeks this summer is delighted that Heathcote nursery is sponsoring this year's show on Tuesday (29) in the Corn Exchange and will take over running it from next year.

She said: "If they hadn't come forward I would have probably carried on next year as I wouldn't have wanted it to be lost. But it is a big relief to be able to pass it over to them."

Grandmother Mrs Von Berg, who was elected to Devizes Town Council in May, was shocked when she was told by Devizes Outdoor Celebratory Arts in 2013 that the baby show was no longer appropriate for the carnival fortnight.

She was backed by the then mayor Pete Smith and it became the Devizes Mayor's Baby Show but kept its date during the carnival. Mrs Von Berg said: "It was a real shame for it to be dropped from the carnival programme but a number of other traditional events have also gone."

Stephanie Hall from Heathcote House Nursery and Preschool said: "Jeanette has done lost of hard work over many years to keep the tradition of the show alive in the town and and partially covered the funding herself after funding was taken away and the show was cut from the carnival programme.

"We are very pleased to be taking the organisation of the show next year and to be supporting her with sponsorship this year. We want send Jeannette off with a bang and have a really good turn out at this years event."

Judging will take place from 10:30am to 1:30pm in three different age groups. Mayor Nigel Carter will present the prizes and a raffle will raise money for the mayoral charities.

Fellow Devizes town councillor Sue Evans, who is another stalwart of the baby show, will also be there to help with judging.

Back in 2013 DOCA said in a letter to Miss Von Berg that the baby show was "no longer an appropriate item for inclusion in our carnival programme" and did "not fit with the ethos of the current contemporary programme."