THE annual raft race on the River Wye went ahead as planned at the weekend despite attempts by conservationists, and bitter weather conditions, to put a stop to things.

The three-day event, organised by Committee for Herefordshire Amateur Rafters (CHAR), had not even begun when the problems started.

CHAR's Trish Hales explained: "We were setting things up for the race on the Friday when conservationists tried to stop us, saying that there were endangered breeds nearby and that the race could not continue. This turned out not to be the case but it did set us back a bit."

The 70-mile race did get underway the next day but the good weather of Saturday did not last, giving way to Sunday's downpour which made life difficult for the rafters.

Five people were treated for hypothermia and two rafts had to pull out because of the poor river conditions.

On Monday the conditions did improve somewhat as 18 of the 21 starting teams finished, including five out of six new entries, an encouraging sign for the future of the race.

The winning team was Patricks, of Hope-Under-Dinmore, near Leominster, who finished with a time of eight hours, five minutes and 30 seconds.