ONE of the York area's biggest agricultural shows has been cancelled for the second year running because of Covid.

Organisers of the annual Tockwith Show say they have called off this year’s event in August because of continuing uncertainty over the impact of the pandemic.

A spokesperson said the show would have been the 75th to be staged since the event was first held in 1945, but the show committee felt there were too many question marks over what would be allowed and how to ensure the safety of the public, to make it a viable proposition.

Show president Michelle Lee said it was a disappointing and a hard decision to have to make but the committee felt it was better to cancel the show now rather than end up staging something which didn’t match the quality of previous years, or put all the finance and time into preparing for an event that then had to be scrapped.

“The simple problem is we just don’t know what is going to be happening in August, whether there will be any restrictions still in force and what we would be required to do as the show organisers to meet any future guidelines,” she said.

“It would be great if we could leave it until July and then make a decision, but the reality of organising one of the biggest agricultural shows in Yorkshire is that the preparation needs to begin months ahead of the event, and we are already well past the time when decisions need to have been taken.”

She said 20 new volunteers from within the community had offered help for the future and added that the committee was hoping the second major event to be held on the showfield – the annual Bonfire and Fireworks night – would be able to go ahead in November.