7 February 2008: Flipped off

A traditional British pancake race was tossed off the menu this week due to health and safety regulations.

The event, in Ripon, northern Yorkshire, is a fun race along a city street by schoolchildren, choristers and office workers, flipping pancakes as they go.

But the event had to be scrapped this year due to the cost of complying with regulations.

Organisers said Harrogate Borough Council wanted to charge them 250 pounds to close the road; local police wanted in excess of 1,200 pounds to police the event; and then they would have had to pay for insurance risk assessments and qualified medical staff in case of any injuries or accidents.

The race is traditionally started by ringing Ripon Cathedral's ancient Pancake Bell, which has rung for 600 years; but not any longer, it seems.