Northern Racing says no further closures

Lord Howard, chairman of Northern Racing, has stressed that no further racecourse closures are planned.

Northern Racing, along with Arena Leisure, made a shock announcement on Friday that Hereford was to close permanently at the end of 2012 while Folkestone is to close on a temporary basis.

The decision over Hereford was taken after the group, headed by the Reuben brothers, failed to be granted permission to extend the lease which runs out in 17 years.

"These are not decisions which have been taken lightly, I only live two miles away from Folkestone racecourse and it's a very sad day, I hope it's only temporary," said Howard on Channel 4s The Morning Line.

"I'm very sad about Hereford, too, but there's no doubt at all about Hereford, there were different stories doing the rounds yesterday but we've been in negotiations with Herefordshire Council for many years.

"Many people would agree the facilities are not up to scratch, they need substantial investment and you can't expect anyone to make that kind of investment when the lease only has 17 years left to run.

"We've been trying to persuade the council to give us a much longer lease without success and that is why we've had to close it down.

"The fixtures will be run with better prize money at other tracks.

"We're prepared to talk to anyone (should they wish to put a group together and run racing until the end of the lease) but the process of deciding fixtures for next year is at an advanced stage.

"It is not a case of if a course isn't making money it will be shut down.

"We have no plans to close any other racecourses and the fixtures will not be lost and I hope will be run for better prize money but it is sad we had to take this decision about these two racecourses."