Bad weather has led to the cancellation of a fancy-dress Reindeer Run in Victoria Park which was scheduled for Sunday (December 5).

Runners were set to tackle 5k and 10k runs in full reindeer costume to raise funds for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

But weather conditions which would give real reindeers second thought have led organisers to call off the event, which is now scheduled for January 23 at the same location.

The RNLI has called of a number of its 13 country-wide runs which were planned on the same day.

All those who were due to take part are automatically entered into next year’s event.

Samantha Kay, RNLI Events manager, said: ‘It is really unfortunate, but we just felt we had no option.

“We deliberately waited until closer to the weekend in the hope that the snow might have melted and the weather forecast improved.

“However, this isn’t the case.

“The paths in Victoria Park are still very icy and we felt that we couldn’t justify asking 400 or so people to come down and run in such conditions.”

Fundraisers can still sign up for the January run by visiting rnli.org.uk/reindeer.