Organisers of one of the Ribble Valley's most anticipated events of the year have been forced to cancel due to the ongoing coronavirus situation.

Paul 'Derbo' Derbyshire and Dave Cott, who organise the Ribble Valley Scooter Rally, which is held in Clitheroe each September, made the announcement on their Facebook page last week.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Citing social distancing rules as having too much of an impact on venue capacity and campsites, Derbo said: "We have considered all possible scenarios of the impact of social distancing rules regarding venues, campsites, pubs and the road closure and have concluded that we will have to cancel Ribble Valley Scooter Rally 2020.

"The health and safety of visitors, locals, venue staff and performers is our number one priority and we believe that cancellation was the only responsible option.

"I will now be contacting all the bands directly to let them know the situation.

"We would just like to say thank you to everyone for their continued support and understanding in these strange times."

The Ribble Valley Scooter Rally was due to take place over the weekend of September 26 and would've been the ninth year that hundreds of scooter-ridings mods had taken over the town.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Derbo stated that any gigs continuing to be advertised for the weekend of the event were not officially endorsed by the Ribble Valley Scooter Rally.

He added: "We are not responsible for the organisation or supervision of these events, and anything advertised is not endorsed by us.

"Most of the bands we had on board have already signed up for next year though.

"Hopefully we can come back bigger and stronger in 2021.

"In the meantime, look after each other and stay safe."