ORGANISERS of the CLA Game Fair have called off the countryside event after revealing it was losing too much money.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the fair - which attracts more than 100,000 people annually - had now failed to generate enough income for three years.

It said it had been using members' cash to invest in the event, in attempts to try to combat falling visitor numbers, but this was no longer possible.

The fair had been held at Blenheim Palace five times since 2000 and had also previously taken place at Cornbury Park, near Charlbury.

But in a statement this morning CLA director general Helen Woolley said: "The game fair is an important and well loved event with a long tradition.

"This is a difficult decision that we deeply regret having to take.

"We are extremely proud of the game fairs that we have put on in recent years and we are grateful to our team that has delivered these high quality, professional events.

"Unfortunately an increasingly crowded summer calendar of outdoor events has contributed to falling attendance and this has made the event financially unsustainable.

"We can no longer ask CLA members to allow their membership subscriptions to underwrite the losses the event makes."

She added that a consultation on the fair's future would start, with the CLA looking for other organisations that may be interested in putting forward proposals to run it.

The fair was first held in 1958 and is the largest event of its kind, offering fine art, angling, a food market, cookery demonstrations, theatre and clay pigeon shooting, in a celebration of country life.

It has been held at some of Britain's most impressive estates, including Chatsworth in Devonshire and Broadlands in Hampshire, as well as Blenheim last year.

It was due to take place at Ragley Hall, in Warwickshire, next year, but the CLA confirmed that would now be cancelled.