THE annual New Year Holcombe Game Cock Show has been cancelled for 2017 because of fears over bird flu.

Due to the outbreak of the disease in Lincolnshire earlier this month, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has suspended the general licence for all poultry shows until January 6 next year as a precautionary measure.

There are no plans to rearrange what would have been the 173rd event, as tradition dictates it should only be held on New Year’s Day, organisers say.

Russell Taylor, honorary secretary of Holcombe Old English Gamefowl Club, said: “Of course it’s a shame, but it is very much a case of better safe than sorry with things like this.”

Bird flu, or avian influenza, mainly affects birds but can also affect humans and other mammals.

The virus was confirmed on December 16 in turkeys on a poultry farm near Louth.

All birds at the premises died or were humanely culled to limit the risk of disease spread.

For more information visit: www.gov.uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu