THE Great Lyme Regis charity Christmas pudding race has been cancelled due to time pressures, organisers have said.

The annual event is one of Lyme Regis' most bizarre Christmas attractions however, organisers - the Lyme Regis branch of Cancer Research UK - have announced that it will not be staged this year.

The seafront event has been running for the past three years and has raised £11,000 for the charity.

The popular December event involves teams of six tackling an obstacle course on the Lyme Regis seafront while carrying a Christmas pudding.

Branch chairman, Philip Evans, said: "It gets progressively more difficult to get teams to take part and we rely heavily on the same sponsors every year.

"We appreciate that our supporters will be very disappointed but we feel that it is right thing to take a rest for a year. It is definitely our intention to return in 2016."

In a statement on The Great Lyme Regis Christmas Pudding Race's Facebook page organisers said: "We're sorry to announce that we will not be organising the Great Lyme Regis Christmas Pudding Race this year. We are sorry to all our loyal supporters, but we only have a very small committee and cannot commit the time needed to organise the event this year."

Instead of the pudding race, the Cancer Research UK Committee intend to organise a Christmas party night at the Woodmead Halls on Saturday, December 19, details of which will be announced soon.

The next Cancer Research event will be a Turn Lyme Pink weekend with a coffee morning on Saturday, October 24 followed by a curry night in the Lister Room on Marine Parade to tie in with bonfire and firework night on Saturday, November 7. There will also be a Christmas bingo at the Woodmead Halls on Saturday, November 27.