A rural tradition which is over a century may end if a new leading light cannot be found.

The cancellation this week of the Bishop Wilton Show, held at Stamford Bridge, was forced by the foot and mouth crisis.

But organisers say unless a new show secretary can be found soon, it will be axed permanently.

Show committee member Barbara Lee said the situation was becoming desperate.

"This show has been going virtually every year since 1897 there were two years during the Second World War when it was cancelled," she added.

"Our current secretary is due to retire so we need someone who can take over.

"Everyone on the committee is quite old so we need some fresh blood who can take over."

The show takes place in July but planning starts towards the end of September, said Mrs Lee.

"Each committee member has their own role to play in organising different sections of the show, but we need someone who can bring all this together," she explained.

"Unless we can find someone by August we will seriously have to consider not doing it next year then the show might never be held again.

"It's quite a big show for the size of the village we have thousands of visitors. There is lots of variety and different stalls.

"It will be a terrible shame if the show has to be cancelled because it is an important social event for the local farming community."

The sort of candidate the show committee is after is someone with good organisational skills.

"They will need to be someone who has a good knowledge of computers because the whole thing is organised on disk," said Mrs Lee.

"Unfortunately there will not be a salary for the post but there will be some sort of payment.

"The post would suit someone who is retired or semi-retired."

If you are interested in becoming the Bishop Wilton Show secretary, contact Peter Wilson on (01759) 372078 or Barbara Lee on (01759) 368532.

Updated: 09:01 Wednesday, June 20, 2001