Disappointing Royal Show turnout

The show was visited by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall

Bad weather and bluetongue restrictions on livestock have been blamed by organisers for a disappointing turnout at the 2008 Royal Show.

The Warwickshire event, which is one of the largest of its kind in Europe, attracted a total of 100,000 people over the four days it was on.

In 2006, the last time the Stoneleigh Park show was held over four days, a total of 130,000 visitors went.

The 2007 show was forced to close a day early because of torrential rain.

This year, restrictions on animal movements in bluetongue surveillance and protection zones had reduced the number of animals on show, with cattle down by 1,000 to only 200.

The number of sheep was down from about 1,600 to 400.

Dennis Chamberlain, of the Royal Agricultural Society, said that it had "ripped the heart out of the livestock part of the show" and had been responsible for deterring a lot of people from attending.

The show was visited by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall on Friday.