Sunderland Airshow axed over climate change

The Battle of Britain memorial flight was one of the regular attractions at the Sunderland Airshow

The Sunderland Airshow has been cancelled indefinitely as a council says it wants to make the city carbon neutral.

The popular event, which attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators to Roker, was last held in 2019.

Subsequent dates were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Council leader Graeme Miller said the city would host other events, including the World Triathlon Championship next year.

He said residents wanted "to see new and different events" which the council hoped would "inspire more people to become physically active".

The Red Arrows were usually a star attraction

A council spokeswoman said: "In light of the new approach to events and the council's ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2030 and the city's to be carbon neutral by 2040, the council has confirmed it has no plans to run the Sunderland Airshow in the future."

Mr Miller said: "Residents have identified the environment as one of their top concerns and both the council and the city have committed to tackling the global climate emergency by reducing carbon emissions.

"This makes it all the harder to justify events such as the airshow, which generate large amounts of carbon, going ahead in the future." 

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