A PIGEON fancier who helped organise the "race of the century" by royal appointment today spoke of his disappointment that it was ruined by bad weather.

The beginning of the prestigious Royal Pigeon Racing Association centenary event was postponed for 24 hours after falling foul of the same problems as Wimbledon and the Glastonbury Festival.

More than 50,000 birds, including hundreds from across East Lancashire, were due to be released from Nantes, in central France, at 6am on Saturday.

They were eventually released at 6.30am on Sunday.

But by 9am today only one owner in the area had confirmed that his bird had returned. Alan Parker, a nationally known fancier based at Downham, near Clitheroe, greeted his pigeon at 10.11pm last night.

Brian Tattersall, 60, who has an extensive loft of birds in Haslingden Old Road, Oswaldtwistle, was one of the seven-man committee who helped organise the race.

Today he said: "It is terrible. I'm distraught really that after all this build up this should have happened.

"We were all so looking forward to and it has all gone wrong."

In perfect weather conditions, the racing birds, who were pitted against the Queen's own flyers, would have completed the journey in under seven hours.

Mr Tattersall, chairman of the Blackburn and District Federation of Homing Societies, added: "The race was held over while the weather improved but the conditions were still less than perfect.

"The birds must have run into bad weather soon after they were released.

"Many of them will have stopped off at farms along the way."

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