THE scheduled 50th staging of the annual Beamish Run, due to take place on the Summer Solstice, Sunday June 21, is the latest event to be cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.

George Jolley, organiser of the 150-mile test of reliability and endurance for cars and motorcycles from the classic and vintage eras, said: “It is with great regret that the 21.6.20 event must be cancelled due to forces beyond our control.”

But he said he hoped it could return next year, on Sunday June 20, with entrants for 2020 automatically earning a place for the 2021 event.

The purely vintage motorcycle and three-wheeler version of the run, the Beamish Trophy Trial, scheduled for later in the year, provisionally remains on, however.

Organisers, from the South Durham Section of the Vintage Motorcycle Club hope that if the pandemic situation improves, the 48th trial will take place as planned, on Sunday September 20.