A popular motorsport event in the region won’t go ahead this season after a decision was made by Forestry England to stop any motorsport activity until September.

The Kielder Forest Rally won’t take place in 2021 due to the decision made by Forestry England earlier this week to prevent any motorsport activity from taking place before September 30.

News of the cancellation means it’s the second year in a row that the Kielder event won’t take place after last season it was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Kielder Forest Rally is gone, cancelled and won’t run,” said the event’s media manger Ed Graham.

“There’s nothing you can do. Forestry England has said it won’t consider anything before September.”

‘Killer Kielder’ is one of the most famous rallying locations in the world and is a favourite amongst both drivers and spectators, with the event itself being one of the most popular on the sport’s calendar when it usually takes place every year.

Forestry England has revealed the decision has been taken due to the expected increase in staycations that are set to take place this summer as the country begins to ease its lockdown restrictions.

“Forestry England has advised Motorsport UK that motorsport will be allowed to resume on their estate from 30 September 2021,” a statement on the Motorsport UK website read.

“Motorsport UK understands that the Forestry England’s estate has proven more popular than ever as restrictions ease and anticipate that this demand from the public will increase more over the summer ‘staycation’ months.

“Access arrangements will be in line with prevailing Covid-19 guidelines at the time.”

Although this year’s event won’t take place, the organisers of the rally have said they hope to return in June next year as Ed explained.

“Next year is too early to say,” he added.

“But I assume what will happen is we’ll apply for a date and see which championships we can get in and use all the groundwork that has been used this year for next year and carry it forward.

“It would be a shame if no rallies were in Kielder. It would be absolutely sad.

“After all these years, Kielder has been this iconic venue for rallying. It would just be a tragedy if there wasn’t an event up there, so we’ll be doing our upmost.”

This year’s running of the Kielder Forest Rally had been set to welcome a number of championships as part of the event including the BTRDA National Rally Championship.