UPDATED 12:04*
THE ORGANISER of an unofficial alternative Race for Life has cancelled the event after a request for risk assessments and insurance payments from the Isle of Wight Council.
Following the cancellation of the official Isle of Wight Race for life, due to poor weather, waterlogged conditions at Seaclose Park and damage caused by the Isle of Wight Festival, Sue Plummer invited participants to run an alternative route with her and a group of friends.
But Sue told those due to take part in the alternative, the event had been cancelled.
In a Facebook group dedicated to the event she said: "I am really sorry, but the council caught up with me yesterday. "The upshot is we are holding an event on council land, therefore I need to have risk assessments done, fill in loads of forms and pay £300 for insurances and licences.
"I cannot justify spending this amount of money on a charity event, therefore we will not be running this.
"I am really sorry about this, it is such a shame, however I am hoping that the fuss we have created has made sure we get Race for Life on the Island next year.
"Thank you to everyone who supported this event and I hope you either join the Portsmouth run on Sunday or have your own walk locally with friends.
"I cannot blame the council for doing their job, everyone else is so ready to blame someone else when something happens that they have no choice but to put these measures in place."
Sue told the County Press: "Hopefully this has shown how important Race for Life is to people on the Island and get them to keep the event on the Isle of Wight in the future."
Rachel White, organiser of the Isle of Wight Race for Life, said the cancellation of this year's official event, did not mean future events would not happen on the Island.
"By no means was the cancellation a message that the event won't happen on the Island next year.
"The reason we did not postpone the event was because we could have been in the same position in a couple of months with the weather and we did not want to mess people around and it would have been more costly to the charity.
"I am looking at different suitable venues, but have not found any that meet all the criteria yet.
"I have also been looking to see if we could move the event to a date before the Isle of Wight Festival, which would prevent us facing the same situation next year.
"We are looking at all options. The Isle of Wight Race for Life is a brilliant event and we were very disappointed this year could not go ahead."
*A solution to the situation may have been found by the Isle of Wight Council, which has invited Sue and others to take part in Park Run, a weekly fun run at Appley Park that already has insurance and marshals in place.
A council spokeswoman said: "We are inviting Mrs Plummer to hold her event as part of a weekly fun run the council organises at Appley Park each Saturday morning.
"This is an event that already has its own insurance and marshals. There is no need for Mrs Plummer to complete any paper work nor pay a hire fee so we hope this is a good solution for her and all those who plan to support this worthwhile cause.
"We appreciate that the paperwork event organisers are often required to complete can be daunting and we are happy to give advice in these circumstances. Our aim is not to make the hosting of events difficult but to ensure they are run safely for the benefit of all."
Reporter: ross.findon@iwcp.co.uk