Six hundred years of tradition have been been tossed aside as organisers cancelled a pancake race in Yorkshire.
The Shrove Tuesday race in Ripon usually attracts hundreds of people to watch local schools and businesses tossing pancakes through the city's cobbled streets.
But this year, organisers have called a halt to the race because of the time and costs involved in having to put the necessary precautions and regulations in place.
Bernard Bateman, Liberal Democrat councillor for Ripon North and one of the organisers, blamed "bureaucracy".
He said: "The main problem is the health and safety aspects and issues such as that. There is bureaucracy that goes into holding any event these days, the policing, the risk assessments, and it has a cost factor and takes a lot of time."
Organisers were told they would have to pay £250 to the local authority to close Kirkgate Road, where the race took place.
They would also have to hold insurance risk assessments and pay to have medical staff on hand in case of any injuries or accidents.
The Pancake Bell has rung for 600 years and was traditionally used to signal the start of the race, which was revived in 1998 by former Dean of Ripon John Methuen.
Curse this bloody 'health and safety' culture that has infected this once-great nation of ours thanks to the fucking PC brigade!
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