This year's event, scheduled for May 31st, will not take place because of police and local council concerns about overcrowding on Cooper's Hill, near Gloucester, organisers announced.

"We have had to cancel on the advice of the police and local authorities this year because of the issues of health and safety and other aspects," said Richard Jefferfies of the organising committee.

"Last year fifteen thousand spectators came to the event, by far the most we have ever seen, and we just could not cope.

"As well as concerns about the safety of the crowd and the competitors, local landowners were also worried by the amount of damage done by people climbing over fences and that sort of thing."

Following a 200 year old tradition, competitors run down the treacherous 1:2 gradient hillside in pursuit of bouncing 7lb Double Gloucester cheeses. Injuries are common and the sheer volume of spectators jams roads, prompting complaints from locals.

The announcement of this year's cancellation was made today on the event's website.

It said "The organisers of the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake regret to announce that the 2010 event has been cancelled.

"The attendance at the event has far outgrown the location where it has traditionally been held for several hundred years: last year more than 15,000 people tried to attend (according to official estimates) which is more than three times the capacity of the site.

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