ORGANISERS of the New Forest Show have revealed that the storm-lashed event could make a loss of £100,000.

The three-day spectacular, which cost more than £1m, suffered a 30 per cent drop in attendance after being hit by the wettest July on record.

Chief executive Richard Cuzens said: "We expect to make a substantial loss but have the reserves to cover it.

"All sorts of things have to be taken into account and we won't know the final figure until the middle of October.

"However we're likely to see a deficit of up to £100,000, which includes the cost of restoring the showground at New Park, Brockenhurst.

"When something like this happens it sets you back but makes people more determined to win through."

It is not the first time that the show has made a loss. In 2001 the event lost £77,000 after cattle were banned following the national foot and mouth crisis.

Subsequent years saw profits of more than £150,000 made, but in 2005 bad weather again cut the attendance numbers leaving the organiser with a meagre profit of just £1,280.

As he greeted the late arrival of summer in the last few days, chairman Geoff Morgan said: "What a different show it would have been this week."