A MASSIVE fundraising ball expected to raise more than £11,000 for the NSPCC has been cancelled due to the foot and mouth crisis.

The Hanley Castle Ball, scheduled for Saturday, June 5, was due to be held on parkland grazed by sheep and cattle in the grounds of Severn End, Hanley Castle.

But event organisers, a committee of 12 mothers from the Hanley Castle area, felt the risks of going ahead with the ball were too great.

Sally Pettipher, a member of the committee, said it was a great shame.

"But I think it was the only option open to us because no one would have been able to forgive themselves if there was a tragedy afterwards," she said.

"Foot and mouth is on our doorstep. It's on one side of the river and we're on the other, so it doesn't feel like the right time for celebrations."

The first ball was held in 1999, when 250 people attended and raised £11,000 for the charity.

This year, organisers were expecting between 275 and 300 visitors and Mrs Pettipher said they had hoped to top the 1999 total.

"It was a jolly hard call to cancel it because it looks as though the disease is dying down but it was a committee decision," she said.

This year's ball has been replaced with a smaller champagne reception in the walled garden of Severn End.

Mrs Pettipher said they would hold the event again next year.