This Sunday’s Grooms Garage Mid Wales Stages rally has been postponed because of the snow.

The organisers said this morning that after an emergency meeting and in view of the snow that has hit the region the event will have to be cancelled and run at a later date.

Many of the stages currently have a covering of snow and ice and it would have been dangerous to run the stages.

The statement said: "The forecast for the next 48 hours shows little sign of the weather abating. Organisers have put the safety and welfare of our officials, marshals, volunteers, spectators and competitors above the need to put on a rally.

"The committee feel it would be irresponsible to put any of the rallying fraternity in a position of danger, potentially even just travelling to the event would have been a challenge and we sincerely hope that you will support our decision."

Clerk of the Course Wayne Jones is he was devastated by the announcement but he believes it was the right call to make.

He said: “The organisers came together yesterday (Thursday, March 1) and concluded that postponing the event was the only safe choice for everyone.

"We did consider waiting until tomorrow to see what conditions were like when the set-up team went in, but looking at the forecast, we thought it would be dangerous for them to be in the forest with a predicted forecast of -9C temp with -20C wind chill and heavy snow.

"We would like to reiterate that we do plan to run the event later in the year and extend our thanks to our sponsors Grooms Garage and our championships for their continued support.”

Competitors will be contacted regarding refunds.