NORTH West motorsport has been dealt a blow this week with the news that one of its most popular venues has been sold.

Flookburgh airfield in Cumbria looks set to be re-developed as a caravan site following its sale to the adjacent leisure park.

The deal means that all motorsport activities have been terminated, bringing the curtain down on 20 years of rallying at the former World War II aerodrome.

Situated on the bleak, windswept headland overlooking Morecambe Bay, the challenging nature of the tarmac and gravel roads at Flookburgh attracted crews from as far afield at Scotland and the Midlands.

The closure has affected the Association of North West Car Clubs, who have been forced to rearrange their calendar to counter the loss of at least four stage rallies planned for later in the year.

And the ANWCC, which boasts over 300 registered competitors, has also had to bring its hugely-popular Flookburgh Rally Challenge to a premature conclusion, with only two events completed. Consecutive class wins on the Oak Leaf and Bay Stages earlier in the year were enough to see Dave Hodgson and Nigel Madigan crowned champions in their Vauxhall Nova 1300.

But the news brought a mixed reaction from the Burnley pair.

"Obviously, we're delighted to win our first championship, especially so early in the year, but turning Flookburgh into a caravan site is terrible," said Madigan.

"We competed on our first-ever event there in 1988, and it had a character all of its own. It wasn't popular with some competitors because the weather always seemed hostile, but that presented a challenge in itself.

"You were never sure which tyres to take, because no two rallies were ever the same. On our last four outings we had to cope with sheet ice, torrential rain, thick snow and blazing sunshine.

"We can ill-afford to lose places like Flookburgh, because the alternatives for clubmen like ourselves are forest rallies, which we can't afford, or 'mickey mouse' events at racing circuits."

Baitings and Scammonden Dam hillclimb courses have both been refused a licence for 2000, due to concerns over track safety. The organising clubs, which include Pendle DMC, have joined forces in an attempt to remedy the problems.