Ribble Valley charity run axed on safety grounds

1:47pm Tuesday 14th September 2010 in Read Photograph of the Author By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter

popular: Runners in last year’s event popular: Runners in last year’s event

A CHARITY race which was set to attract 1,000 runners has been axed just days before it was due to go ahead.

Organisers have been forced to cancel the Read and Simonstone Run this Saturday after being told they had not met safety regulations.

The people behind the 2.7-mile run, which has taken place through the villages for the past three years, said they had not received enough support from the Ribble Valley Event Safety Advisory Group.

But the safety group said it had repeatedly asked for details of a traffic manag-ement plan, which had not been forthcoming.

Warren Eastham, event organiser, said: “We are only amateurs at organising events and we haven’t been given any support, or guid-ance. We were told we needed a road closure order which the traffic manage-ment company would deal with, but we didn’t know what to ask for.”

The organisers were told they needed to close the A671, the sixth most danger-ous road in the country.

Mr Eastham said the event had gone ahead in previous years with a rolling road block provided by police.

The run was set to raise £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and a cystic fibrosis charity.

Chris Shuttleworth, chair-man of the safety advisory group, said they had supp-orted the event. He added: “We have provided time and advice at a number of meetings with the orga-nisers and repeatedly asked for details of a traffic manag-ement plan.

“This was not forthcoming and on September 1 we contacted the event organ-isers to move the matter forward.

“We were informed the event management plan had not been finalised, as the traffic management company had been changed, hence there was a delay.

"The event organisers were invited to a further meeting on September 6, at which, despite all our best efforts, we were unable to accept their proposals.”

Comments (7)

4:01pm Tue 14 Sep 10

britguy says...

Why are the words danger-ous, manage-ment, guid-ance and chair-man hyphenated. This is surely incorrect or at least it is according to the Cambridge dictionary...do they spell these words differently in Lancashire.
Why are the words danger-ous, manage-ment, guid-ance and chair-man hyphenated. This is surely incorrect or at least it is according to the Cambridge dictionary...do they spell these words differently in Lancashire. britguy

6:27pm Tue 14 Sep 10

who said that says...

I think that people communicate like this when they are really annoy-ed. Sometimes, when they get an-g-ry then all h-e-ll can bre-ak l-o-o-se!!-!
I think that people communicate like this when they are really annoy-ed. Sometimes, when they get an-g-ry then all h-e-ll can bre-ak l-o-o-se!!-! who said that

6:36pm Tue 14 Sep 10

happycyclist says...

britguy wrote:
Why are the words danger-ous, manage-ment, guid-ance and chair-man hyphenated. This is surely incorrect or at least it is according to the Cambridge dictionary...do they spell these words differently in Lancashire.
I heard a story in the pub the other day that LT news articles are proof-read in India before release.

There has to be a reason for it because it has been commented on time and time again. I simply can't believe that the reporters file articles like this.

LT?
[quote][p][bold]britguy[/bold] wrote: Why are the words danger-ous, manage-ment, guid-ance and chair-man hyphenated. This is surely incorrect or at least it is according to the Cambridge dictionary...do they spell these words differently in Lancashire.[/p][/quote]I heard a story in the pub the other day that LT news articles are proof-read in India before release. There has to be a reason for it because it has been commented on time and time again. I simply can't believe that the reporters file articles like this. LT? happycyclist

7:46pm Tue 14 Sep 10

MJA says...

Isn't that the way they are set for the paper; splitting the words to fit the column?
Isn't that the way they are set for the paper; splitting the words to fit the column? MJA

9:49am Wed 15 Sep 10

nosimongarner says...

happycyclist wrote:
britguy wrote: Why are the words danger-ous, manage-ment, guid-ance and chair-man hyphenated. This is surely incorrect or at least it is according to the Cambridge dictionary...do they spell these words differently in Lancashire.
I heard a story in the pub the other day that LT news articles are proof-read in India before release. There has to be a reason for it because it has been commented on time and time again. I simply can't believe that the reporters file articles like this. LT?
What!!!!!!!!!!!! they have started proof reading the telegraph, who's doing it Paris Hilton?
[quote][p][bold]happycyclist[/bold] wrote: [quote][p][bold]britguy[/bold] wrote: Why are the words danger-ous, manage-ment, guid-ance and chair-man hyphenated. This is surely incorrect or at least it is according to the Cambridge dictionary...do they spell these words differently in Lancashire.[/p][/quote]I heard a story in the pub the other day that LT news articles are proof-read in India before release. There has to be a reason for it because it has been commented on time and time again. I simply can't believe that the reporters file articles like this. LT?[/p][/quote]What!!!!!!!!!!!! they have started proof reading the telegraph, who's doing it Paris Hilton? nosimongarner

10:34pm Wed 15 Sep 10

Warren Eastham says...

I cannot believe the response of this bureacratic fool. He says that he met with us at a number of meetings?? I only remember two and one of those was two weeks berfore the event when he said that we hadn't met with their requirements. The other was in February when they omitted to tell us about the road closure order!!.
Their so called expert advice told us that we needed a traffic management plan. Unofficially they gave us two companies to contact. In six months neither company managed to give us any documentation or plan so that we could progress, this was despite many emails and telephone calls.
Unfortunately the police whom have been excellent in previous years, two weeks before the event suddenly decided to deny knowledge of the event and even mentioned that they thought it was happening off road!! If that was the case how come we were discussing a traffic management plan?
"If you don't step outside your front door you won't get run over" This seems to be the type of safety advice you are giving Mr Shuttleworth!! You should try being a glass half full instead of a glass half empty because if you do you are in a position to help hundreds of people complete the events that make the Ribble Valley a place to be proud of. Continue sitting behind your rule book and life will be a miserable place.
Before you respond, WE DO UNDERSTAND HEALTH AND SAFETY and we DO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE AN ADVISORY GROUP. Try helping for a change!!!
I cannot believe the response of this bureacratic fool. He says that he met with us at a number of meetings?? I only remember two and one of those was two weeks berfore the event when he said that we hadn't met with their requirements. The other was in February when they omitted to tell us about the road closure order!!. Their so called expert advice told us that we needed a traffic management plan. Unofficially they gave us two companies to contact. In six months neither company managed to give us any documentation or plan so that we could progress, this was despite many emails and telephone calls. Unfortunately the police whom have been excellent in previous years, two weeks before the event suddenly decided to deny knowledge of the event and even mentioned that they thought it was happening off road!! If that was the case how come we were discussing a traffic management plan? "If you don't step outside your front door you won't get run over" This seems to be the type of safety advice you are giving Mr Shuttleworth!! You should try being a glass half full instead of a glass half empty because if you do you are in a position to help hundreds of people complete the events that make the Ribble Valley a place to be proud of. Continue sitting behind your rule book and life will be a miserable place. Before you respond, WE DO UNDERSTAND HEALTH AND SAFETY and we DO UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE AN ADVISORY GROUP. Try helping for a change!!! Warren Eastham

2:27pm Thu 16 Sep 10

RV Raynet says...

As a responder organisation we have dealt with RVBC on many occasions, and in particular the Health and Safety Advisory Group. We liase with them on behalf of many people that hold events throughout the Ribble Valley and have always had good solid professional advice and assistance.

As an organisation Raynet were due to attend and provide communication services for the event in question and were relying on 6 of our volunteers to be there for the whole day to give safety cover via radio communications.

At this time we are still due to attend as we have had no notification from the event organisers that our services are no longer required or indeed that the event has been cancelled !
A little organisation and attention to detail may be lacking I suppose but it would have been courteous in the least to let us know directly, instead we find out from the local newspaper !

Not happy at all
As a responder organisation we have dealt with RVBC on many occasions, and in particular the Health and Safety Advisory Group. We liase with them on behalf of many people that hold events throughout the Ribble Valley and have always had good solid professional advice and assistance. As an organisation Raynet were due to attend and provide communication services for the event in question and were relying on 6 of our volunteers to be there for the whole day to give safety cover via radio communications. At this time we are still due to attend as we have had no notification from the event organisers that our services are no longer required or indeed that the event has been cancelled ! A little organisation and attention to detail may be lacking I suppose but it would have been courteous in the least to let us know directly, instead we find out from the local newspaper ! Not happy at all RV Raynet

Comments are closed on this article.

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree