A CHARITY’S major fundraising event of the year has had to be cancelled because the car park is waterlogged.

It’s the first time in 22 years that Bournemouth-based Cherry Tree Nursery has had to call off its summer plant sale tomorrow.

Manager Jessica Davies told the Daily Echo: “Not being able to hold the plant sale will probably cost us more than £20,000 in lost income because we had already bought in plants especially for the day.

“It’s our biggest fundraising event and we are gutted. But we understand why the council has said we can’t use Vicarage Field for parking. It’s waterlogged and cars would get stuck in the mud.

“We want to ensure that our customers don’t turn up in cars; they can still come in buses or on foot to buy plants, as usual, and there will be some bargains. But we can’t cope with the hundreds of people who usually turn up for the sale. We also had to cancel our open day for guests yesterday, because of the weather and lack of parking.”

Jessica added: “It’s really disappointing because we rely heavily on our summer plant sale for revenue; our next sale is on Saturday, September 29 and we’re hoping the rain will have stopped by then.”