Changes to armed forces weekend as event cancelled

A community parade that marks the start of an armed forces weekend has been cancelled.

Organisers of the annual Cleethorpes event said ongoing work in the resort meant they did not have a sufficiently long parade route or resource to manage the community carnival safely.

Planned work on Pier Gardens also means the location cannot be used for stalls and other activities during the weekend, which runs from Saturday 26 June.

Some events will be moved to the town's Meridian Showground and the Boating Lake area, organisers added.

Alex Baxter, managing director of The Armed Forces Major Events Team, the community interest company that delivers the event on behalf of the council, said: "Over the last few months, we have been looking at how we can deliver the best event within the constraints of the resort this year.

"We remain fully committed to making sure that the weekend goes ahead, attracting large amounts of visitors and boosting the local economy, as it has done for years.

"We are a small team of volunteers and, as such, we need to focus our efforts on making sure that the military parade, one of the main highlights of Armed Forces Day, goes ahead safely along a shorter, and different route for this year."

The two-day festival attracts thousands of visitors and is supported by the Ministry of Defence.

Highlights include displays of military equipment and flypasts, including a display by the Red Arrows.