LEIGH'S waterways festival and canal rally has been adandoned.

Organisers of the four-day event say no-one will be in the mood to celebrate because the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, falls in the middle of the planned £50,000 extravaganza.

The event was called off after a two-and-a-half hour meeting between the Leigh Business Partnership and event co-ordinator Alan Jones.

"I'm absolutely gutted," said Mr Jones. "But we have to consider the people of Leigh and their feelings following Diana's tragic death.

"Diana was a much loved person and no-one will be in party mood for what was planned as a celebration of Leigh and the community."

Mr Jones said the decision had not been taken lightly.

"We were very mindful of the time and work put in by many, many people but we couldn't take the risk of the events on Saturday failing because of the funeral. Regretfully we have had to cancel the whole event."

The festival, which had been planned for months and had been backed by big business and community groups, will be staged next year. In the meantime, Buisness Partnership chairman Gordon Jackson is working on a Christmas Festival.

Mr Jackson, who wanted the festival to go ahead as planned, said he appreciated the hard work put in by many people to make sure the festival would be a success.

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