Next week's Moira Canal Festival has been cancelled due to the recent bad weather.

The event's committee announced the news on social media this morning (Friday) - and said they were 'broken-hearted'.

They blamed the heavy rain over recent days for making the site unsafe - saying it will not have dried out in time for next weekend's planned two day festival (May 20-21).

The post reads: "Regrettably, after a committee site meeting, we have been forced to cancel the Moira Canal Festival next weekend.

"This is due to extremely poor site conditions caused by severe rain over the last couple of weeks.

"After looking at the weather forecast over the next week, we aren't confident that the site will have dried out enough to safely hold the festival.

"As you can imagine, we have explored alternative options such as different dates and other sites but we are not able to make it work for 2023.

"We will be in contact with all entertainers, traders, caterers and volunteers over the upcoming days.

"We're really broken-hearted to have to cancel, watch this space for announcements about our next event."

The Moira Canal Festival is a family event held every year on the restored section of the Ashby Canal, at the historic Moira Furnace Museum.

It aims to raise awareness of, and money for, the restoration, extension and maintenance of the Ashby Canal.