The Teignbridge Sports Personality of the Year awards will go ahead come what may, a group of councillors has pledged.

Last month it emerged that Teignbridge Council had pulled the plug on the 2009 event, blaming staff shortages and the credit crunch for the decision.

The news had been issued earlier in the year but so low key was the announcement that the cancellation was overlooked not only by the media but the majority of councillors who only found out during a budget debate when Cllr Jeremy Christophers, the council's sports champion, asked for the decision to be explained.

He later told this paper he would rather deliver awards door-to-door than have the district's sporting heroes go unnoticed.

Now he has submitted a motion demanding that the matter be discussed in the chamber.

He wants the awards to go ahead, even if it means doing away with the glitzy ceremony which is usually held at the Langstone Cliff Hotel, Dawlish.

Cllr Christophers told the Advertiser: 'This cancellation cannot be allowed to stand, we must lead by example and proceed with the awards.

'What would happen to all the clubs in the district if the individuals who had put in all the effort suddenly said they were taking a year off which is what the council effectively said it was doing?'

The motion will be considered by the full council on April 6 but any

decision could be delayed if referred to the executive committee.

Leader of the opposition Conservative group, Cllr Stuart Barker, said it would be interesting to see how the council, in which the Liberal Democrats hold 21 seats, the Tories 19 and the Independents seven, dealt with the matter.

'What is Teignbridge going to do now, say no?' he said.

'Will the awards be kicked into the long grass? Even if the matter is sent to the executive we will still force a vote.

'At a time when the world is full of doom and gloom about the economy it is good to have something different, some good news for people to enjoy.

'The cancellation really should have been a decision by the portfolio holder, Cllr Ann Fry, but it wasn't so we didn't get the chance to debate it.

'Clearly she knew what was happening but the rest of us missed it otherwise we would have made a lot more fuss at the time.

'We accept that in these financially tight times a big ceremony might not be appropriate but there's no reason not to press ahead and recognise our sporting achievers.

'The cost will be nominal, indeed I think there's still some sponsorship money in the pot from last year.

'If necessary then I, Cllr Christophers and the Conservative group would sponsor the awards.

'Even if it means going alone without the council we will still invite nominations and make sure the awards are given out in some form or another.

'Sport offers people so much more than what it appears to at face value. We can't ignore that and we want the awards ceremony to go ahead.'