A group of performers and traders has warned that the Edinburgh Fringe Festival's spirit of spontaneity is being "sacrificed" in favour of commercial interests.

About 150 street entertainers and vendors accused organisers of killing the event's independence with "crushing bureaucracy" and corporate sponsorship.

Some performers will stay away from the event in the future as a result, according to a new pressure group set up by disgruntled regulars.

Entertainers had to enter a ballot for spaces

"The festival is about spontaneity and the tradition of carnival," according to Helen Moore, spokeswoman for the group, the Street Performers and Artists Network (Span).

Street entertainers had to perform on sponsored stages while businesses were given pavement space to hand out free samples, she said.

This year, street performers had to enter a lottery to be allocated one of 38 spaces in popular city centre areas like the Mound.

"In the past, performers on the Mound would organise themselves whether they were licensed or not, but this is stopping people taking responsibility for themselves," Ms Moore said.

"Now people are saying they won't come back. They are going home and saying: 'Don't bother with Edinburgh, it's too regulated and commercial'."

People have a problem with the fact that the Fringe has to have rules

SpokesmanEdinburgh Fringe

The cost of stalls for ordinary traders had also "rocketed", she added.

But organisers dismissed Span as "an isolated group" and said most performers and traders were "extremely happy".

The stages were only for performers in Fringe productions - not street entertainers - while the most expensive stall cost �379 for the entire two-week event, a spokesman said.

Space

"People have a problem with the fact that the Fringe has to have rules but that doesn't mean it's less bohemian. And besides, health and safety has to be our primary concern," he said.

"At the end of the day, the High Street is a finite space and if everyone who wanted to perform and trade was given space there would be no room for people to enjoy themselves."

Fringe organisers had an "open door" policy for complaints, which would be fed into the final report and handed to the council, he added.