MFEST festival cancelled due to flood fear

Bob Geldof was one of 40 artists expected to appear at the two-day festival

A music and food festival expected to attract 30,000 people has been cancelled due to warnings of heavy rain.

MFEST, at Harewood House near Leeds on the 7 and 8 July, was expected to feature up to 40 performers including Bob Geldof, Texas and Matt Cardle.

Organisers said the decision was made after a Met Office <link> <caption>amber warning</caption> <url href="http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/warnings/?regionName=uk" platform="highweb"/> </link> of heavy rain was issued for the region.

Forecasters warn between 20mm to 40mm of rain could fall in 24 hours.

The Environment Agency (EA) has issued 28 flood alerts across Yorkshire and the North East.

MFEST said it had sought advice from a number of agencies including Leeds City Council before cancelling.

In a statement, it said: "It is with our deepest regret that due to the adverse weather conditions leading up to this event, in conjunction with the extreme weather warning as issued by the Met Office for the weekend, we were left with no other decision than to abandon this weekend's MFEST."

Details of ticket refunds would be available on the <link> <caption>MFEST website</caption> <url href="http://www.themfest.com/" platform="highweb"/> </link> from 9 July, organisers added.