Strong winds force county show closures

Strong winds have forced the closure of the sheep section marquee at the Royal Cornwall Show.

A show spokesman said all sheep had to be moved off the show ground on Thursday evening (7 June).

Show secretary Christopher Riddle said the decision was taken as a “precautionary measure”.

“It is a large marquee and we didn’t want to risk anything untoward happening,” he explained.

“This is an isolated event and no other section of the show ground has been affected in this way.”

Mr Riddle stressed that no-one had been hurt, there was no physical damage and he expected the sheep to be moved off efficiently and without difficulty.

“This is a great shame, especially given that 2012 is a record year for sheep entries,” he said.

“Happily, most classes have been judged today (Thursday) but judging of the championships, due to be staged on the second day (Friday) will inevitably be lost.”

The Royal Cornwall Show will continue today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday).

Weather forecasters predict the strong winds will die down today (Friday).

Apart from the closure of the sheep section, all other events are expected to go ahead as planned.

Meanwhile, high winds led to the cancellation of the second day of the Suffolk Show near Ipswich today (Friday).

The show ground is being evacuated after events were called off around 8am.

The organisers, the Suffolk Agricultural Association (SAA), said winds gusting up to force nine were forecast for Friday.

Some tents were blown away overnight and the organisers decided to cancel the show on safety ground to avoid endangering people’s lives.

Chris Bushby, executive director of the Suffolk Agricultural Association, said: “We began monitoring the situation yesterday and decided to review things this morning.

“We decided it was not worth taking any risks with people’s lives. We can cope with rain, but the wind is dangerous, and it was only going to get worse during the day.

“The Met Office said the wind could reach force nine by lunchtime.

“It was a difficult decision to cancel the show, but we are sure it was the right one. We will not gamble with people’s lives.”

Around 30,000 people had been expected to visit the show on Friday.

A process for refunding advance ticket holders will be announced in the coming days.