A PAIR of popular road races will not take place this year.

The Woodley 10K and 3K runs have been cancelled after organisers failed to secure the safety of competitors and volunteers.

A statement on the runs' website said: "We regret to inform you that there will not be a Woodley 10K or 3K Road Race in 2015.

"This is due to a number of reasons. Firstly the number of housing developments around the course in Headley Road East, Parslows Bakery site exiting onto Loddon Bridge Road, and the Bulmershe University site on Woodlands Avenue, which are due to be completed in 2015.

"We have to submit a Traffic Management Plan to the Council saying how we will manage the race through the various junctions depending on the traffic levels.

"In previous years we have conducted a traffic census to ensure that we have sufficient trained marshals to deal with this, but this is not possible this year, because the building work is not complete, but it will be by May.

"In the interests of safety for the runners we are not organising the event this year.

"Secondly, the course has a Certificate of Accuracy issued by UK Athletics which lasts for 10 years and we renew annually. However, if this course is changed it has to be re-measured.

"It is anticipated that there will be changes to the route in Loddon Bridge Road and at Just Tiles roundabout. It is also a concern that the M&S store at Shepherds House Hill roundabout is getting very busy and we need to consider a route change to avoid this.

"We will look at the situation again later in the year to see if we can hold the races again in 2016.

"We are sorry to disappoint our regular runners, some of whom have been participating in these races for over 20 years, but we have responsibility to them and the volunteers who marshal the races to make sure that it is as safe as we can make it."