THE annual Arley to Stourport Raft Race was cancelled due to dangerous water levels for the first time in its more than 25 year history.
Ron Cross, fundraising chairman for organisers Kidderminster and District Lions Club, said: “Unfortunately due to the river level being high and flowing so swiftly, it is too dangerous to run the raft race, and as such we have made the decision to cancel the event on May 13. We are looking into the possibility of re-running it at a later date, but as yet we have no firm plans.”
The Lions had been closely monitoring the River Severn from Saturday, May 5. Water levels fell steadily until Wednesday, May 9 before they started to rise again.
After consulting with the Redditch Divers, who provide safety cover for the start of the race and receiving predictions from the Environment Agency on the volume of water in the river, the Lions decided to cancel the event in the interest of the safety of the competitors.
They thanked all those who had entered the race and invited them to watch the following web sites for future updates Arley to Stourport Raft Race and Kidderminster and District Lions Club
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