THE Fordingbridge Show has been cancelled due to problems setting up the new site at Midgham Farm.

Thousands were expected to attend the two-day spectacular but it is not the first time that the popular country show has been axed - in 2005 it was cancelled due to a lack of funds.

But in 2006 event planners Living Heritage took on the organisation of the show and it went ahead, bringing in hoards of visitors.

Managing director of Living Heritage Events, Mark Hulme, said: "I'm so cheesed off I don't want to talk about it!

"We put all that hard work in last year, we had a fabulous site and a fabulous show booked and now we can't use the site because the road closures aren't in place. We just ran out of time."

Mr Hulme said Living Heritage had put in all the financial risk but did not say how much the company had lost.

Living Heritage organise the show and the Fordingbridge Show Society monitors it and adds the animal content. Living Heritage also contributes the equipment and promotes the event.

This summer would have seen the 86th show hosted at a new venue that promised to accommodate even more visitors than the previous site at Godshill.

The show was due to benefit from many of its original attractions, including cattle, sheep, goats and horse and pony competitions as well as some new events.

Show president Peter Carpenter said: "It is with regret that, due to problems experienced outside of the control of the show council, which both we and our contractor feel would put the show into a position of difficulty, the show council took the very hard decision that it would be better not to run the show for 2007, but to work towards overcoming these difficulties for 2008."

He said that the problems of setting up the new showground meant there was insufficient time for marketing.

He explained issues such as access and traffic had not been a problem in previous years but when the new site was decided there was a lot of work to do.

New Forest District Council highways engineer Nick Hunt confirmed that organisers had asked the council to make a traffic regulation order but said it was beyond the council's powers. He said that the road leading to the new location could not accommodate two-way traffic and that the road to the west of the site would also pose access difficulties.

"We have the powers to close roads or introduce traffic orders to do with facilitating works or where there is a danger to the public, but we don't have the powers to overcome other issues to do with the new position for the showground."

Ringwood woodturner Geoff Knott was ready to demonstrate his skills and sell his products in the show's craft marquee and was disappointed when the Forest Journal called him with the news. "Oh no! We knew there were potential problems. We understood there were delays over the licences for the movement of animals and the obvious problem of traffic."

Browns fish shop in Fordingbridge was due to appear at the show, but when Mr and Mrs Farrant, who own the shop, applied to take part they were told it had been cancelled.

Margaret Farrant said: "As it's the first year of having the shop we thought it would be ideal.

"We are disappointed 100 per cent."