HEAVY rain has led to the cancellation of this weekend's North West Vintage Rally in Widnes.

The difficult to cancel the event, for only the third time in 20 years, follows a site inspection today.

The saturated ground within Victoria Park means that even given fair weather between now and the weekend - when the event was due to be held - the ground would not recover sufficiently to take the heavy vehicle loads that visit the event.

More significant rain is also forecast for the rest of the week and weekend.

This was a joint decision made between the council's parks management, events team, Halton events safety advisory group and the authority's portfolio holder for events, councillor Eddie Jones.

Cllr Jones said: "It has been a difficult decision and one we haven’t taken lightly. We know that many people will be disappointed.

"However, given the condition of the park and the weather forecast, we were really left with no option but to cancel the event.

"We plan to be back to the usual fun-packed family weekend next year that people from Halton and all over the North West can enjoy."