Covid: Traditional Shrove Tuesday games called off

The Alnwick game moved from the town's streets to fields by the castle

Traditional Shrove Tuesday games played for centuries have been called off because of coronavirus restrictions.

Hundreds of people normally gather for the annual matches in Sedgefield, County Durham, and Alnwick in Northumberland.

The games are often rough, have few rules and can end up in disorder.

Sedgefield's organisers said it would return "with all of its history, energy and excitement but, this year, please stay at home".

Similar events have been held around the country for almost 1,000 years, with games played at Corfe Castle in Dorset, Ashbourne in Derbyshire and Atherstone in Warwickshire.

They can attract hundreds of spectators.

Michael Adcock was declared winner of the Sedgefield game in 2019

In Sedgefield participants grapple for a small, hard leather ball and dunk it in a beck about half a mile away from the central scrum. The first player to take the ball into a local pub gets a free drink.

The Alnwick version was moved from the town's streets to the fields by Alnwick Castle in a effort to make it safer.

The Duke of Northumberland starts the game by dropping the ball from the castle's battlements.

In the past century it has been cancelled because of war, foot and mouth disease and bad weather.