THE organisers of an agricultural day are hoping a move to East Lancashire will bring back its success.

Witton Country Park, Blackburn, will be the new venue for the one-day display, organised by the Royal Lancashire Agricultural Society.

The new event is in place of the society’s usual show, which has had to be cancelled for the last five years due to bad weather and financial difficulties.

With brand new events, including a dog show, which anybody can enter, bird displays and a car rally, it is hoped the new snapshot event will encourage residents from the local area to get involved.

Paul Roberts, the show’s director, said everybody was really looking forward to it. He said concerns over traffic and parking were being dealt with, with talks for off-road visitor parking at an adjacent factory ongoing.

“We just want everybody to go away and say they have enjoyed it”, he said. “I can categorically say that in our planning we have tried to eliminate as much as possible any difficult issues.”

The Royal Lancashire Agricultural Show was formerly held on a Duchy of Lancaster-owned site at Myerscough, but the event has not taken place for the last five years.

Organisers were forced to cancel the event in 2007 and 2008 because of unseasonably heavy rain and it was abandoned again in 2009 after concerns about traffic management and site access.

The cancellations left the society in a precarious financial position, meaning the show was mothballed for another two years.

But Mr Roberts said that plans had been put in place to make sure this year’s event could go ahead, whatever the weather.

He said: “We are really looking forward to it and we are just keeping our fingers crossed for the weather.

“The snapshot is good for Blackburn and I am proud of the town and the park.”

The show is on Sunday, May 20, from 10am to 5pm.