IT was one of the biggest sporting events in the region for years - but now it is official that Royal Ascot will not be coming north next year.

Despite some hopes that the meeting would return to York next summer, the £200m redevelopment of its Berkshire home is on target for completion by June.

Race bosses at York - as well as those at the other possible stand-ins, Newbury and Newmarket - were told yesterday they will not be needed.

Royal Ascot at York proved to be a huge hit with the racing fraternity and the public at large - although some local traders claimed their businesses suffered as a result.

Over the five days, about 225,000 people poured through the turnstiles of the Knavesmire at York for the first Royal Ascot not to be held in Berkshire for 294 years.

But yesterday, Ascot chief executive Douglas Erskine-Crum said the redevelopment work was going according to plan and contingency plans were in place should there be any unexpected setbacks.

The leader of the City of York Council, Steve Galloway, said the announcement was tinged with disappointment but was not unexpected.

"We recognised that with the massive investment Ascot was making in the racecourse they effectively, for financial reasons, had to hold the event there," he said.

Marketing manager at York racecourse, James Brennan, said they looked back with pride on what had been achieved last June.

"It was a one-year agreement and our expectation was always the same as Ascot's," he said.