Rotherham Council issues statement on cancellation of circus

Performers with the James Richards Circus were due to take centre stage at Burgoyne Park, Aston, in the opening show of a five-day run tonight.

But at the eleventh hour, circus bosses were informed that the shows would have to be cancelled because of concerns over the spread of Covid-19 in the area.

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The decision to cancel was made by Aston Parish Council, which initially granted permission for the circus to perform.

It came after a recommendation by Rotherham Events Safety Advisory Group.

In a statement, Rotherham Council said: “Members of the multi-agency partnership Rotherham Events Safety Advisory Group (RESAG) recently wrote to Aston Parish Council to advise they consider cancelling the circus due to a significant increase in Rotherham infection rates over the weekend.

“Following this, Aston Parish Council made the decision to cancel the event.”

RESAG chairman, Polly Hamilton, said: “The government allows for events to take place provided there are strict measures in place to prevent the spread of infection.

“Over the last few weeks, members of the RESAG have been working with the South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum to develop guidelines for the safe delivery of events at this time, with one of the guiding principles being local infection rates.

“Infection rates have been rising over the last few weeks within the borough with a sharp increase at the weekend.

“There is no indication the rates are likely to decrease, so following liaison with South Yorkshire Police and Public Health England regional and local office, we wrote to Aston Parish Council on Monday to advise the circus should not go ahead.

“We are fully supportive of Aston Parish Council’s decision to cancel the circus and we appreciate the work which goes into the planning and running of such events.

“Given the rise in infection rates over the last week, we must all work together to prevent the increase in infection rates, to help keep Rotherham open.

“We thank the parish council and the circus for playing their part.”

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