This was the view across Huntingdon Racecourse at lunchtime on Wednesday after torrential rain in recent days
Meetings had to be called off due to health and safety concerns - Credit: Archant
It looks more like a photograph of the Great River Ouse, but this is Huntingdon Racecourse
Two meetings have now been called off - Credit: Archant
Torrential rain in the last three weeks has now seen the cancellation of two fixtures.
Racecourse officials have said they were left with no choice but to abandoned meetings on health and safety grounds.
A meeting last Friday was cancelled just 45 minutes before the first race, due to safety concerns. Huntingdon Racecourse's traditional Boxing Day meeting was also called off after wet weather left the stables and part of the spectator area out of use.
Huntingdon clerk of the course Jack Pryor told our sports report Mark Plummer: "We had 8mm of rain overnight from Thursday into Friday,
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but there were no concerns when I walked the track first thing at 6am.
"However, subsequently the brooks around the course began to rise and we sit on a flood plain. They burst their banks and trickled their way towards the racecourse with it first becoming apparent there may be an issue at around 9.15am.
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"We were very happy with the situation when we inspected at 11am as the only area affected was the Picnic Enclosure which wasn't in use
for this fixture anyway. We called another inspection for noon but in the time between 11am and then, the water really began to rise
through the sight.
"The bookmakers' rails were underwater and it was also heading towards the buildings, so we decided to abandon from a public safety
point of view."
The next fixture at Huntingdon is the Pertemps Raceday on Friday, January 24.
