HEREFORD Racecourse could be dealt a financial blow if they have to cancel their Christmas Jumper raceday due to snow.

Around 3,500 people are expected to attend the annual meeting on Saturday with 191 entrants set to compete for £70,000 prize money across seven races.

However, as the Hereford Times went to print on Wednesday, four inches of snow still covered the racecourse plunging the meeting into doubt.

Executive director Rebecca Davies said that a decision on the meeting will depend on how much snow melts in the coming days.

"The football club are doing an amazing job in clearing the snow but our site is a lot bigger," said Davies.

"We have to wait for the snow to melt away and we would need to see a decent thaw in the next 24 hours. It's our biggest race meeting of the year and we are desperate to stage the meeting.

"However, the first thing is the safety of the race goers and horses and the financial situation comes second. There is an awful lot of infrastructure which we have to make sure is safe to hold the race meeting."