A BEACH sports festival which promised to bring tens of thousands flocking to Canford Cliffs Beach has been cancelled “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

Organisers told the Echo the three-day event planned for the August Bank Holiday weekend will now not go ahead due to “lower than expected” ticket sales. They have put that down to bad weather, clashes with other local events around the same time, and businesses being reluctant to commit on a Bank Holiday weekend.

A spokesman for the festival added: “The cancellation of the event has nothing to do with the area. As this is a major event there are severe cost implications; sacrificing the quality of the event was not an option.”

Plans had included a variety of ball sports including beach soccer, rugby, volleyball and netball. Festival highlights were set to include The National Beach Soccer Championships and a charity match in aid of The Youth Cancer Trust. In addition live local bands were set to play throughout the day and international DJs during the evenings.

The festival team hope to reschedule the event next year and “depending on negotiations” they are hoping it will still be at Canford Cliffs Beach.

A spokesman added: “The reconsiderations are regarding the date - trying to find one where there is limited competition for attendees, and also dates where we can get the players to attend - especially the professionals.”

Poole Mayor Xena Dion who had backed the event, told the Echo the news was “a real disappointment.” She added: “It would have been a fantastic opportunity for people to get involved with sports and mix with professionals and semi-professionals.

“It would have been a really brilliant event for Poole and we will continue to support them to keep going with it and bring it back to Poole next year.”

The official statement announcing the cancellation adds: “The organisers apologise to everyone who has supported them.”