THE director of the Suffolk Show has explained why the decision was made to cancel today’s event just 15 minutes after the gates opened.

David Nunn said until 7.30am there was only a “yellow” alert about the weather, and if that hadn’t changed the show would’ve gone ahead.

However, they received an update from the Met Office at 7.45am which upgraded the threat and predicted force nine gales from lunchtime.

He explained: “If the weather had stayed as it was at 7.30am I would’ve been happy to go ahead with the show. But then the advice changed.

“Wind is always one of our main worries. On this site we can cope with rain but in strong winds like these when structures become unsafe, that is probably the only weather-related reason for cancelling the show.

“The fact that the show will lose money does not factor into my decision. My first thought was for the safety of all our visitors and we will deal with the financial implications later.

“Most people I have spoken to accept that it was the right decision.

“We are desperately disappointed but when safety comes into it it makes the decision so much easier. It is probably the most difficult decision I have had to make in my life but it is all about safety.”

He said if marquees or flags broke free there was “ a very real chance someone could’ve been killed and we will not take that chance”.

Details of refunds for the public are not yet clear, but Mr Nunn said: “It’s too early to talk about the detail of refunds but we will be back here next year and we want people to come back and my feeling is we will need to be generous.”