PLANS to hold the Huddersfield Easter Fair at Fartown cricket ground have been scrapped.

Now Kirklees Council and the Showmans Guild of Yorkshire face a race against time to find a new site.

The fair has been held in St Andrew's Road for the past three years but safety officials have been forced to move it fearing that cellars under the site, next to Holset Engineering, could collapse.

Malcolm Armitage, 52, of Spaines Road, said he was delighted the fair would not be coming to Fartown.

He said: "I didn't mind it being down on St Andrew's Road because there were no people living near there.

"The road is much safer because there are not cars parked all the way along it.

"I would not be able to park outside my own home if the fair was held here.

"There are lots of old people's homes nearby and I don't think it's fair to them."

Last week Clr Mehboob Khan appealed for people who lived near the site to make their views known. Only one person was in favour of having the fair in Fartown.

Kirklees Leisure Services and the Showmans Guild are now exploring other sites in an attempt to find one in time. Fartown High School playing fields and land next to Salendine Nook High School have already been deemed unsuitable.

Clr Khan said he was disappointed but the people had to be in support of any site.

"We have to weigh up the concerns of the Showmans Guild and local people. In this case I think the potential problems to the people of Fartown and specifically Spaines Road outweigh those of the fair.

"There is still time to find a new site and get the fair on this Easter but they will need to find somewhere very soon."

Former chairman of the Showmans Guild of Yorkshire Sandra Wright, of Brighouse, told people who met at the site yesterday the fair must go ahead.

"It has to go ahead - we have no choice but to put the Easter fair on in Huddersfield because people's livelihoods are at stake," she said.

"In places like Batley we put the fair on next to old people's homes and there is never a problem, so I do not see why it would be in Fartown.

"I wish people would just give us a chance and we could show them that we would not make a lot of noise. The traffic would not be a problem and everyone would enjoy themselves."

The fair is scheduled to take place during the Easter weekend of March 25 to 28.