CHESTER races have returned to the city for another year.

‘The Races’ are one of the most popular events the city has to offer. An annual occasion held in the summer months which many believe to be one of highlights of the year.

However, many local people have aired their opinions of how the races has changed over the years with many Chester residents feeling ‘cut off’ from the spectacle due to several reasons such as high prices and standard of facilities.

One local resident who wishes to remain anonymous told us: “I think Chester races is getting very elitist, champagne is £90 a bottle minimum, the gin garden must be a pre booked at an additional cost. Tickets are now priced on a supply and demand. It’s all getting too costly for most.

It used to be a good day out although never cheap, but it has gone too far now.”

Local, Paul Thomas said: “The facilities are poor in the 'lesser' areas, they only seem to want the custom of the county stand now and have driven families and Joe public out. The air raid shelter toilet in the dee stand is a disgrace.”

In their response, Chester Races said: “We realise that racing can sometimes be seen as elitist, however we try to overcome that by offering a range of tickets for our customers, including accessibly priced enclosures like the Open Course (£10) and Dee Stand (£15).

We want the racecourse to be enjoyed by the local community, so we are running a buy one get one free offer for residents on selected fixtures this year. Racing at Chester is also a popular day out for families with free admission for children aged 17 and under in all general admission enclosures.”

In response to concerns about the standard of facilities at Chester Racecourse, a spokesman said: “The Dee Stand toilets are part of our regular cleaning schedule during a race day.

“On busy race days with over 20,000 racegoers on site, this can sometimes be a big job, but we challenge our cleaners with keeping all facilities to the standards that we expect.  We take pride in the presentation of the racecourse and have a yearly building and maintenance plan that the Dee toilets will benefit from in the coming years.

One of the key changes implemented to Chester Races in recent times has been the restrictions brought in to limit the public in bringing their own drinks to the Open Course. A move which has prompted a negative response.

Another local, Paul Holland said: “They cut all the locals off when they restricted the amount of beer you could take on the grass area”.

In relation to this, a Chester Races spokesperson also said: “We understand the frustrations of the local community around the restrictions of alcohol on the Open Course. They were introduced to improve the experience for families during our community race days, Roman Day and Family Funday. The restrictions have been in place for some years now and we will continue to review them. We do still allow racegoers to bring a moderate amount of alcohol to the car park picnic area to enjoy with their picnic.”

Chester Races continues to attract thousands of racegoers over the summer and will no doubt still be an event enjoyed by many despite concerns raised by a growing number of residents.