This year's Chester Pride festival has been postponed to a later date after severe weather was forecast for Saturday.

Currently there is a Met Office yellow weather warning for strong winds of more than 40mph expected to cause disruption in the Cheshire West and Chester area, particularly during the daytime, on Saturday.

This follows a weather warning for heavy rain and thunderstorms on Friday.

With this in mind, Chester Pride organisers have reluctantly taken the decision to postpone all Pride activities planned for this Saturday until later in the year.

A Chester Pride spokesperson said: "It is with regret that, upon full consultation with Cheshire West and Chester Council, the relevant authorities, and the service providers that a final decision has been made to postpone our 2019 event.

"The reason for this is due to the high winds and gusts of up to 50mph forecasted by Met Office weather reports for this weekend. The safety of all those planning to attend Chester Pride 2019 must and will always come first.

"The volunteer committee has not taken this decision lightly, but are all in agreement on this matter.

"Chester Pride was created to always provide a safe space for all, and sadly the forecast weather reports this weekend will prevent us from doing so. 

"We are currently working behind the scenes to reschedule the event to a new date that we will announce on our social media platforms, website and local press later this forthcoming week.

"Whilst we understand people will be upset and angry we, as an event, cannot and will not jeopardise anyone’s safety."

Chairman Warren Lee Allmark said: "Twelve months of hard planning and overcoming obstacles to make sure event is a success has for me been summed up when I have 12 fantastic members of the committee sit and cry in front of me.

"The team and myself have worked non-stop on this project and we are truly saddened, however there is a silver lining that we are able to reschedule at short notice in fact to Cheshire West & Chester Council's events Team, service providers and local authorities.

"We will face some really hard operational issues but we are fully behind the event and will do our very best to make sure that 2019 is a year to remember.

"A GoFundMe fundraising page has been set up to help recover some of the lost costs. As a free event, we rely on donations along with sponsors to help us put on this event, so the communities support is more important now than ever. “

Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council, Councillor Louise Gittins: “We are extremely saddened to hear of the decision to postpone Chester Pride on Saturday, 10 August due to the severe weather forecast and warnings in place.

“We have worked closely with the organisers to look at every possible option, but we feel that it is the right decision to ensure the safety of all involved.

“We understand the amount of hard work and time that goes into planning an event like this and the committee has done an amazing job. We will continue to work with them to promote equality and diversity throughout the borough and hopefully secure a date for the event to take place later in the year.”

It is hoped the festival, which has been nominated for a National Diversity Award and was due to feature Heather Small of M People and 90s 'Saturday Night' singer Whigfield, can be held later this year.

The GoFundMe page can be found at  https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-chester-pride