Great Yorkshire Showground car parks to be improved

The Great Yorkshire Show was cancelled in July after the first day due to heavy rain

Work to improve car parks and drainage systems at the Great Yorkshire Showground is under way after the show was cancelled due to heavy rain.

Great Yorkshire Show Director Bill Cowling said more than £200,000 would be spent on upgrading infrastructures.

The show, in Harrogate, was cancelled on 10 July for the first time in 154 years after cars became stuck in mud and some areas flooded.

On Monday nine people were injured when a burger van caught fire at the site.

The fire service said no damage had been caused to the Great Yorkshire Showground, which was hosting an event by the National Pony Society.

'Sea of mud'

Mr Cowling said the improvements were necessary for future shows.

"We are already starting to put more roads leading into the car parks," he said.

"We've about 6,000 tonnes of road stone stacked up ready to go into car parks to make extra roads."

The annual Great Yorkshire Show was cancelled after the first day when torrential downpours turned the area into a "complete sea of mud".

Mr Cowling said lessons had been learnt.

"We've learnt that certain drains aren't big enough to cope with torrential down pours. So we're putting extra drainage programs in place into some of the rings," he said.

"We've learnt that the showground can stand wet weather pretty well, but there are improvements to be done."

Last year more than 135,000 visitors attended the three-day show.