THE chief executive of the Auto Cycle Union Ltd (ACU), Neil Hellings, has hailed the off-road racing success which has been achieved over the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) subsidy issued to farmers by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. (DEFRA).

Since the guidelines for SPS issued by DEFRA at the end of March stated that "motorsport was inconsistent with the land being considered as remaining in agricultural use and would not allow sport to take place if the farmer was claiming the subsidy," huge efforts have been made to redress the situation.

The industry as a whole has been working furiously over the past few weeks, attempting to resolve this issue or at least earn a reprieve, and as a result of tireless campaigning to the many local MP's of clubs, it has helped reverse this unintended "ban".

Full report in this weekl's issue.