The sad announcement was made on facebook, citing damage to the club house and property after the storm on November 29.

Simon Collis, the commodore of the club, said that a large part of the reason for the cancellation was that the club was finding it difficult to find members able to help run the markets.

"There was a little bit of damage, bit of water coming in, but the main thing is that a lot of us in the club are flat out doing harvesting. there's a lot of us involved in the club who are flat out doing harvesting," Mr Collis said.

The toilet block took the brunt of the damage - it was unable to handle the large amounts of water flowing in that led to overflows. The grounds that were originally planned to hold

He added that the damage was certainly a factor, but that it was the final straw that led to the cancellation.

"I reckon we could have overcome it but we're really struggling to get people. They're all busy withthe harvesting. It's a real shame though, everyone was looking forward to it," he said.

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Mr Collis said that they were definitely hoping to see the markets take place eventually, and suggested that the markets might return in Easter.

"It'll definitely go again in the future, but we're not sure when. Obviously Christmas is the time cause everyone's keen, and later in Summer it gets a bit too hot. Maybe around Easter sometime?"

Stallholders have all been contacted via a group email, and will be contacted individually.

For now, eager Christmas shoppers will have to find an alternative.

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