Running event postponed after emergency trench dug

A running event in East Sussex with more than 1,000 competitors has had to be postponed after an emergency trench was dug on the route.

UK Power Networks said it had to close Station Road, Hailsham, on 14 May due to a high-voltage underground cable fault.

Hailsham Community Run was due to take place on Sunday, with the organisers saying they were "devastated", but runner's welfare was their priority.

Lead organiser Mary Laxton says the event is now scheduled for 12 July, but runners who cannot take part are able to use their existing entry for next year's run.

Laxton says: "The impact is absolutely phenomenal, it takes a whole year to plan the event. But the welfare of our runners is paramount.

"We get over 3,000 people coming into town to cheer people on, we have marshals, water spots. It's devastating the impact it has on everybody."

She said: "We had 800 pieces of cake that were freshly baked which have now gone into a freezer, we had 300 bags of sweets professionally wrapped, all the medals have been sorted."

The community run has a one mile race, 3km race, 5km race and 10km race.

A spokesperson for UK Power Networks said: "Engineers are carrying out emergency repairs in the Station Road area of Hailsham after locating a high-voltage underground cable fault.

"Traffic management, authorised by the local authority, has been put in place and the road will return to normal as soon as is safely possible.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to the local community."

A spokesperson for Wealden District Council said: "The new proposed date for the run is 12 July, but the council will need to do a 28-day consultation. Therefore, we cannot confirm the event can go ahead for 6 weeks."

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