ORGANISERS behind the decision to cancel next year’s Oxfordshire County Show said a lack of young volunteers was partly to blame.

The Thame Show has lost about £116,000 over the past four years, and chairman Martin Hector said cancelling the 2012 event was “a golden opportunity to draw breath and properly plan for the successful future of the show.”

He said: “One major factor which influenced this decision is the lack of younger people coming forward to fill the shoes of our older volunteers. Most of the active volunteers are 60 plus.

“We not only need volunteers in the immediate run-up to the show, 200 or so, but we also need people who are prepared to help the association throughout the year.

“In the past the association has relied very heavily on the goodwill of local farmers, contractors and people from other walks of life to give of their time and expertise free of charge. Without this help it is almost impossible to run a show which breaks even, let alone make a profit.”

He said additional factors, including a clash with the London Olympics, had led to the cancellation. Mr Hector said: “I wouldn’t suggest there is any comparison between the two events but many people will be at home watching the Games on television.”

Critics have said the show should never have been moved from mid September to July in 2010.

But Mr Hector said the association was still planning to hold the 2013 show in the summer months.

He said the last three September shows had made a total loss of £80,000, while the 2010 July show turned in a small profit.

He said: “The perceived advantages of moving the show to a Saturday in July were to take advantage of the longer daylight hours, hopefully better weather and to attract families who could not normally attend on a Thursday. Our decision was backed by professional market research.”

The show, which is held on land off Kingsey Road in Thame, lost £40,000 in 2008 and 2009. It made a profit of £4,000 in 2010 after it was moved to a Saturday in July. This year it lost £40,000.

It is not the first agricultural show to face financial problems.

The 170-year-old Royal Show, held in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, closed in 2009 after The Royal Agricultural Society of England admitted it was losing £200,000 a year.