Christmas tractor convoy which raises money for children's hospital CANCELLED indefinitely over safety fears

Organiser and local farmer Olly Harrison started the convoy to raise money for Alder Hey Children's Charity and help to cheer up the patients who are "stuck in there" over Christmas.

However, he told the People's Channel that the event has become so popular that there are safety concerns over the "massive crowds" that he is responsible for protecting.

Mr Harrison said that he was unable to secure support from either Liverpool City Council or Merseyside Police.

He told Britain's News Channel that it has "become too much of a monster, really, for me to do on my own. So without any police or council support, it's not possible to go ahead anymore."

He revealed that the event raised over £250,000 for the hospital in the last five years.

The convey travelled through the poorest areas of the city.

The northwestern farmer said: "There's obviously a cost of resources to do it. They just don't seem to have the appetite, which I don't understand."

"It is a victim of its own success. You know, when we go to the hospital, there are hundreds of people outside it, and I don't want it on my head that something was to go wrong. It'd be my fault."

Speaking on why the council should be recognised, he told GB News: "You can't get a bigger public engagement event. Every child who sees those tractors and thinks, I want to drive a tractor.

"There's another one that thinks, how cool are police cars and police motorbikes with the sirens and the blue lights. It was a hell of a thing for the first three years that we did it."

He added: "I think the only, only way it could ever happen again is, is if there was huge public pressure.

"It's become a tradition in Liverpool. It's been nice for farmers to engage back with the public that buys the food every year."

Mr Harrison thanked everyone for their support over the years, as well as the police support in the early years for "getting it off the ground".

He concluded: "We're just gutted that we can't do it, but it's just the world we live in at the moment, where it can be a dangerous place sometimes."

The local farmer first broke the "sad news" of the cancellation on social media.

He wrote: "Sadly there won't be one this year."

"The farmers are up for doing it, but we've not been able to have any support from the police in the last few years, and particularly the councils in the last year especially.

"It's not going to be possible to hold it. Sadly all good things come to an end."

Liverpool City Council, Merseyside Police and Knowsley Council have all been contacted for comment.