Wings and Wheels show in doubt again after 'uproar'

Wings and Wheels, which had been thrown off its former site at Wolverhampton's Halfpenny Green Airport, said villagers were up in arms at the prospect of the two-day event being held at Lower Cockshutt Farm in Chetton, Bridgnorth.

Site owner Roy Millington had stepped in to save the charity show by offering his land but he was forced to withdraw the offer after neighbours complained.

The organisers of the spectacle, which had already been renamed the Bridgnorth Wings and Wheels, said villagers mistakenly believed the event would be staged on the same scale as previous shows, which drew up to 5,000 people and included air displays.

The Bridgnorth Wings and Wheels Facebook page said Mr Millington had cancelled the event to avoid upsetting his neighbours.

Alec Brew, curator of Tettenhall Museum of Transport which is funded by the show, said people had wrongly come to the conclusion that the event, scheduled to take place on Easter Sunday and Monday, would include air displays and fly-pasts.

But he said the new event would have been more accurately described as 'a large village fete', with planes started up but none flying or coming into land, and a maximum of 2,000 people over the two days.

He said the term 'air show' had alarmed people. "It's a very narrow terminology, perhaps we should have called it an 'air day'. It's just unfortunate," he said.

Co-organiser Vaughan Meers still hopes to salvage the event at Bridgnorth. He said: "We need to reassure people."