Leyland Christmas Festival postponed due to Storm Arwen weather warnings

Forecasters are predicting strong gusts up to 60mph during Saturday as Storm Arwen batters the country.

The decision was taken to postpone the event this afternoon to allow the festive fun to take place next weekend instead.

Martin Carlin, chair of the Leyland Town Team, said: “We’d so been looking forward to this event - our first big one since the pandemic but we have to be mindful that the strong winds will affect a significant part of our event.

“By taking the decision today it means we can run the event a week later instead rather than having to cancel everything on the day.

“I’m sure our residents and traders will understand the decision and will confirm arrangements for next week’s event in the coming days.”

The switch on, which is hosted by Leyland Town Team and due to take place on Saturday 27 November, is supported by South Ribble Borough Council as a way of boosting the local economy.

Coun Paul Foster, Leader of South Ribble Borough Council, said: “We fully support the decision as we want this event to be a great day out for visitors but also a good one for our local businesses.

“The forecast tomorrow means we would run the risk of having to severely scale back the event or cancel it completely in the morning and we felt it was best to take the decision today and look to host the switch on next weekend.

“We’ll work closely with the Leyland Town Team to make sure we kick off the festive season in style.”

The event is now scheduled to take place on Saturday, December 4.