THE premier event in Malvern's tourism calendar, the Three Counties Show, has been cancelled for the first time since the Second World War.

The Three Counties Agricultural Society says it is "not appropriate" to continue with the event in June as the foot and mouth crisis continues.

Instead, the organisation has announced a new event, the Three Counties Summer Show, in August, which it hopes will prove as successful an event.

The summer show will not feature livestock classes but family- friendly attractions are being lined up, including the BMW International Motorcycling event, a big bike show, competitive giant pole climbing, showjumping and a regional food promotion.

The Spring Gardening Show next month is not affected by the announcement and is still going ahead.

The loss of the Three Counties Show is the first since the interruption caused by war, from 1940 to 1946, and previously by severe flooding at Pitchcroft, Worcester, in 1924.

A foot and mouth outbreak close to the showground in 1947 caused postponement for a month and in 1952 foot and mouth resulted in the loss of 'cloven hoof' classes.

"As foot and mouth disease continues to wreak havoc nationwide, farms and other rural businesses, have been left reeling," said the society's chief executive, Chris Milne. "Indeed, the society itself has not escaped the impact. With the countryside in such a state it would not be appropiate to stage a show in June".

The society was intending to press ahead with the event only a few weeks ago, although it did cancel the livestock classes, but says it has been reviewing the situation week by week and, with the countryside in the state it is, cancelling is the right option.

The loss of the June show will hit the TCAS financially as it is already committed to some unrecoverable costs. The society already estimates it has lost around £80,000 through having to cancel a number of events.

"The financial implications of not replacing the show with the August event would be serious," said Mr Milne.

Malvern Hills District Council tourism spokesman Sharon Grey said the move would be blow to the tourism industry, which has already suffered from the cancellation of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the closure of the Malvern Hills.

She said tourist information centres were reporting a 35 per cent drop in visitor numbers and a 70 per cent drop in bed bookings.

"From our point of view, it's a huge disappointment that the show has been cancelled," she said.

She added that the show was also to have served as a major promotion for the Malverns Experience, promoting the district as a whole.