ORGANISERS planning one of the biggest Scouting events in Hampshire's history are praying that the event will not become the victim of Glastonbury-style weather.

More than 4,000 Scouts from across the county are set to converge on New Park Farm, near Brockenhurst, for a week-long camp which starts on Sunday.

Torrential rain has threatened to wash out the New Forest Show which has also been staged on the 39-acre New Park site.

Yesterday the site was a mud bath and there was barely a blade of grass.

With their Be Prepared motto, the resourceful Scouts are determined to go ahead with the H007 Camp which is part of the celebrations for the Centenary Year of Scouting.

It will be the biggest celebration in the region and the second largest in the country after the World Jamboree. The organisers of the camp have been in constant contact with the site owners.

A HOO7 spokesperson said: "The camp will still be going ahead and we are hoping that the weather will brighten up over the weekend. We had to come up with some alternative plans after a couple of fields were no longer useable. But New Park has so many fields. We are using four fields which are in good condition."

New Park Farm will become a canvas city as more than 1,000 tents are pitched. Organisers have drawn up contingency plans if the weather gets worse.

The spokesperson added: "We have some large marquees which we can move people into. But the weather has not been as bad as other parts of the country."