Rain stops asparagus festival

The recent rain and flooding has forced organisers of the annual British Asparagus Festival to cancel the event because of a lack of asparagus.

Organisers said that, after an unusually warm March, the flooding that followed heavy rain and cool temperatures in April had left the seasonal vegetable "almost completely dormant".

And the venue for the festival – which the British Asparagus Growers' Association was due to hold this weekend in the Vale of Evesham, Worcestershire – is under water after the River Avon flooded.