Coun Judith Blake (Lab, Middleton Park), Labour's city development spokesman, described the decision as a "crippling blow to the city's cultural calendar."

The Yorkshire Evening Post earlier this year revealed that the British Shakespeare Company, which puts on the month-long festival usually held in August, was facing financial problems in meeting the estimated £100,000 cost of organising this year's event.

The company was seeking council help or other sponsorship to ensure a two-week festival could take place.

But in a recent letter to the company, Coun John Procter, the council's executive member for leisure, said that after lengthy consultations with council officers he had "come to the conclusion that it is simply too late in the day to put on an event of the calibre you are usually associated with this year."

Coun Blake is dismayed that after 13 unbroken years the outdoor performances – which attract a total of 12,000-15,000 people – are not going ahead.

She said: "The Shakespeare Festival is one of the city's premier cultural events with visitors coming from as far as Canada to see it.

"To lose it would be a crippling blow to our cultural calendar, which is why I am urging the administration to rethink its decision as a matter of urgency."

A council spokesman said: "Leeds City Council have never organised this event directly – in previous years the British Shakespeare Company have simply leased the grounds of the abbey to put on their productions."

Festival founder Robert Williamson said he would welcome an early meeting with council representatives to discuss the best way of staging a festival next year.

Sign up to the Yorkshire Evening Post's email alerts