A HALF-MARATHON event scheduled for next month has been cancelled.

The Chelmer Canal Trust had planned to stage the event on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation towpath on May 8.

However, due to the lack of volunteer marshals, it has had to be shelved.

Neil Frost, Chelmer Canal Trust trustee, said: "We very much regret having to take the decision to cancel the event. A lot of hard work had been put into the planning by several people, two of them not even connected with the trust.

“But an event like this requires a large number of people to be on duty on the day, and we had arrived at the point where we could not guarantee we would have the number of marshals we needed.

“The safety of all participants in the half-marathon was a high priority for us, and it would not have been fair on runners if we had failed to give them an event of the highest standard. We apologise unreservedly to anyone who has been inconvenienced.”

Runners who have entered have been given a full refund.