A CHARITY race which was set to attract 1,000 runners has been axed just days before it was due to go ahead.

Organisers have been forced to cancel the Read and Simonstone Run this Saturday after being told they had not met safety regulations.

The people behind the 2.7-mile run, which has taken place through the villages for the past three years, said they had not received enough support from the Ribble Valley Event Safety Advisory Group.

But the safety group said it had repeatedly asked for details of a traffic manag-ement plan, which had not been forthcoming.

Warren Eastham, event organiser, said: “We are only amateurs at organising events and we haven’t been given any support, or guid-ance. We were told we needed a road closure order which the traffic manage-ment company would deal with, but we didn’t know what to ask for.”

The organisers were told they needed to close the A671, the sixth most danger-ous road in the country.

Mr Eastham said the event had gone ahead in previous years with a rolling road block provided by police.

The run was set to raise £5,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support and a cystic fibrosis charity.

Chris Shuttleworth, chair-man of the safety advisory group, said they had supp-orted the event. He added: “We have provided time and advice at a number of meetings with the orga-nisers and repeatedly asked for details of a traffic manag-ement plan.

“This was not forthcoming and on September 1 we contacted the event organ-isers to move the matter forward.

“We were informed the event management plan had not been finalised, as the traffic management company had been changed, hence there was a delay.

"The event organisers were invited to a further meeting on September 6, at which, despite all our best efforts, we were unable to accept their proposals.”