A NATIONALLY important dog show that has been staged in the same town for nearly 150 years will move to another town this year.

The Darlington Dog Show Society's Championship Show has been held in Darlington since 1860.

But this September, the three-day event -the second biggest dog show in the country, which attracts tens of thousands of dog-lovers from across the country - will be held at Newby Hall, near Ripon, North Yorkshire. It is the second big event moving to North Yorkshire this year. In June, Royal Ascot will be at York.

The dog show had to move because of restoration work in South Park, where the show has been held since 1891. Society secretary Freda Marshall said: "When we heard about this at Christmas, it was a bombshell. We had six days to find a new place to hold the show.

"Newby Hall is a lovely venue, and they are giving us 61 acres out of 300. We normally have 25 in Darlington. It remains to be seen whether we will be back in Darlington next year."

The organisers were offered other venues in the town, but opted to move to Newby Hall because of concern about the quality and accessibility of the sites.

A Darlington Borough Council spokesman said: "It is disappointing that we cannot have the show here this year because, traditionally, Darlington has been the home of this event.

"Unfortunately, the work that we have to do in South Park has got to be done at this time, so it is unavoidable that it clashes with the dog show. We are talking to the dog show organisers and really hope that we can have it back next year."

In the 1900s, the show received Kennel Club championship show status, but shows were halted during the Second World War, and restarted in 1955.

The show will take place from September 16 to 18.