A popular celebrity golf tournament has been pushed back to next year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The 30th Sports Celebrity Am golf tournament at Brean Leisure Park was due to take place on June 9 but the organisers have since decided to start planning for 2021 due to uncertainty caused by the outbreak.

The long-running fundraising event, hosted by the House family, who own the leisure park, has raised thousands of pounds for The Injured Jockeys Fund and St Margaret’s Hospice since its start in 1990.

Richard House, Brean Leisure Park managing director, said: “This event is always a highlight in our golfing calendar at Brean and over the years we have been lucky enough to see many top celebrities grace our fairways.

“In these unprecedented times, rearranging it for a date later in 2020 would be difficult so we made the decision to cancel it for 2020 and start the hard work to ensure the 2021 event is one to remember for everyone.”

Although the course is closed for play at present due to Government lockdown restrictions, course manager Robin Williams and his team have continued to keep the grounds and course well maintained during the closure and course conditions would not have been an issue if the event had gone ahead.

However, PGA professional and director of golf at the park, Andrew March, said: “With many other sporting schedules currently suspended, it could have led to availability issues of many of the sporting stars who often take part had we tried to play it later in the year.

“We felt putting the event on ice for the year was the best move for all and I am already looking forward to a successful event in 2021.”

Former National Hunt champion jockey and vice president of the Injured Jockeys Fund, John Francome, who regularly takes part in the annual charity competition, added: “The House family are one of the Injured Jockeys Fund’s longest-running supporters and we are extremely grateful for their amazing support. I plan to try to play in this event whenever it is staged but on balance in the current situation I feel it is probably best to wait until next year.”