Oakham Town Council has cancelled several of its summer band concerts.

The council has said in a statement: "We are incredibly disappointed to inform you that we have been forced to cancel the band concert planned for Sunday 27th June at Cutts Close Park in Oakham.

"The changing goal posts of Covid restrictions have played a part in this decision as has the disruption to our town this week and the response and additional measures required by Rutland County Council.

"Our events working group will be meeting soon to discuss how to get our summer event schedule back on track."

As Nub News has previously reported, the concerts were supposed to take place throughout the summer.

The town council added: "We would like to thank the bands and businesses who were to be an integral part of this event and have been so patient in awaiting our decision, we have been desperately trying to find a way to go ahead for the last week."

After Oakham residents quizzed why Rutland Showground was able to host a festival attracting thousands, while a smaller event was not possible, Oakham Mayor Zoe Nealson issued an explanation.

Mayor Nealson said: "We planned the event for after Covid restrictions were likely to be lifted. This was delayed which meant we had to look at measures we could take to make the event safe.

"We contacted RCC and reviewed restrictions and it all looked good to go ahead.

"We requested the help of the existing Covid marshalls and were disappointed that this wasn't possible so planned to use councillors to ensure safety.

"Oakham Town Council only employs 1 full time and 1 part time member of staff and yesterday we received a huge list of extra measures and admin we would need to complete. It was a fairly quick assessment to realise that the 48 hours we would have to do this would not be sufficient even with the time and support of all 11 councillors."

The mayor added: "I am really devastated that this event cannot go ahead. The events group, in particular Sally-Anne Wadsworth had worked really hard to plan a brilliant community concert. I love Oakham and seeing the town come together for these events is really special to me."

Following the comments, Rutland County Council this afternoon issued a statement about the regulations concerning events.

The statement said: "Rutland County Council would like to clarify its event process as a recent post by Oakham Town Council may have created some confusion among event organisers.

"The Council's event process has not been changed as a result of this week's event at Rutland Showground. Since the advent of the pandemic, event organisers have been required to provide the Council with event management plans that demonstrate, alongside other aspects of event management, how an event can operate and meet Government COVID guidelines. This is to protect public safety during the pandemic."

The statement continued: "Plans are reviewed and agreed by a multi-agency group including Public Health to ensure they are 'COVID secure'. Details of what we have been requiring event organisers to supply can be found on our website. "

The county council added: "We have been notified that Oakham Town Council has decided to cancel all planned events up to 18 July, due to the Government's extension of COVID restrictions.

"The Town Council is planning to hold a programme of events from 25 July onwards and has been advised of the need to submit these event management plans for review."