AMBITIOUS plans for major street theatre to celebrate King Alfred’s last journey have been abandoned.

Costs have forced the organisers of Hyde 900 to drop the event for the late May bank holiday.

They wanted a huge pageant involving more than 100 actors and an audience of thousands through the city centre as the centrepiece of the celebrations to mark the 900th anniversary of the king’s final burial in 1110 at Hyde Abbey.

But organisers now say the costs were too high in the recession which hit fundraising.

Bob Shannon has spent three months working on the 120-page script which had the working title of The Winchester Riddles.

Mr Shannon, a copywriter, of Salisbury Road, Alresford, said: “I have always found Winchester lacking in a spirit of enterprise.

When things come to the final crunch it never quite comes off.

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“I think this is a huge missed opportunity.”

The pageant was due to a highlight of the Hyde 900 celebrations, a community-led initiative to mark the 900th anniversary of the transfer of King Alfred’s body from the Old Minister to Hyde Abbey in 1110.

There will be a more low-key procession from the cathedral to Hyde Abbey Gardens on Saturday March 13.

Ron Allison, chairman of the Hyde 900, said: “We were all for it but various financial considerations made it impossible. I hope Mr Shannon’s play will see the light of day.”

High cost was also a factor in dropping plans for two other events: a medieval banquet in the Great Hall will instead be held in Winchester Rugby Club on April 24. A music festival in River Park has also been shelved.

Now the centrepiece of Hyde 900 will be an exhibition of the Treasures of Hyde Abbey in the Discovery Centre from March.

It brings together priceless artefacts from museums and collections across the country.

Complementing the main treasures show at the Discovery Centre will be a spin-off Imagining the Treasures which features original artwork inspired by the artefacts.

Venues are Winchester Cathedral: February 15-March 26; City Space at the Discovery Centre and the Link Gallery, West Down Centre: March 6-April 18.

A special ecumenical service at St Bartholomew’s church in Hyde on March 7 at 6pm will mark the start of the celebrations.