WHAT ABOUT SMALLER SHOWS AND VENUES?

Some shows are going ahead in a restricted form; others have chosen to shut down altogether.

Crich Tramway Village general manager, Dr Mike Galer, said: ‘We have removed anything that means people gather in a large group, trams are strictly timed, seats are limited, conductors don’t stand in the main seating area and the café and pub at the venue are takeaway only.’

Pubs and other venues are no longer holding classic events in some cases. Mark Fishpool, from Cambridgeshire, is temporarily not running two regular meets, concentrating on tours of up to a dozen or so cars. He said: ‘ The Stibbington Diner, where I have been holding regular breakfast meets, has reluctantly said that they would have to restrict cars to around 20, which would be difficult to enforce, and the people at the Five Horseshoes at Barham have said that due to the restrictions they can’t host the event. It is much easier for the moment to concentrate on organised tours, though we’re really sorry the events are not taking place and fully understand the concerns expressed by the venues.’

Mark Woodward, of Mark Woodard Classic Events, said that his Newbury 4x4 and Vintage Spares Day would be going ahead according to DCMS guidelines on 18 October. He said: ‘I won’t put it on if it isn’t safe – so that’s subject to infection levels going up or a local [council] closure.

‘Newbury Showground is big, so we can spread things out. We’ll be having marshals walking around. 60-70 per cent of our customers pre-book so we have their details already and the rest have details taken on the gate. What would concern smaller venues is if the government decides to go online only for bookings; the little places would have no way of collecting the data.’