Knaresborough tug-of-war contest falls victim to Covid

An annual tug-of-war competition between two rival Yorkshire pubs has been cancelled for the second year due to Covid concerns.

Knaresborough's Boxing Day contest involves teams from the town's Half Moon Free House and Mother Shipton Inn pulling a rope across the River Nidd.

Organisers said they did not want to risk people's health due to rising coronavirus case numbers.

The event, which attracts about 1,000 spectators, raises money for charities.

The pubs, which field male and female teams, sit on opposing riverbanks at the town's Low Bridge and have fought for the title annually since 1966.

In a social media post, organisers said: "Even though it's outdoors, spectators are literally shoulder to shoulder over the bridge and on the river banks and then of course it's standing room only in the pubs afterwards.

"It's a great tradition which should be fun but we don't want to risk people's health or the NHS's ability to cope."

They added it was impossible to restrict the numbers of people watching the event or enforce mask-wearing and check people's vaccination status.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk or send video here.