A bid by the Cottesmore Hunt to meet in Oakham on Boxing Day has been withdrawn due to new social distancing restrictions.

An application for the hunt to meet in Cutts Close was due to be discussed by last night's 'full' meeting of Oakham Town Council, as previously reported by Nub News.

However, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson restricting numbers of people at social gatherings down to 6 from Monday, this lead the hunt to temporarily drop its proposals.

Oakham Town Mayor Dave Romney told Nub News that the hunt made the right decision.

"It's very sensible. It shows good management and thought for the public."

But if government social distancing regulations change, the hunt can make a bid for a Boxing Day meeting.

If the council had voted to stop such a meeting, it would have 'scuppered' the hunt's plans for six months, Mayor Romney explained.

"It keeps it alive for them. Members of the public wouldn't have been able to go, so let's pull it for now and see how it goes."

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Mayor Romney continued: "We have had the same problem with our concerts this year. Even if its outdoors, we don't want to be seen to be encouraging people to break the law.

"It's the organisers who are going to get done. It (the pandemic) has been a strain for everybody. You can see the groups of young people outside getting bigger, you can see why the government has done what it's done."

He added: "We are still debating whether anything will happen this Christmas. It's all up in the air. The tree will go up but whether there will be an official switch on depends on the regulations at the time. At the moment the answer would be no."