TWO of Rayleigh’s biggest events are having to find a new home this year because the King George V Playing Field is being drained.

The Rayleigh fireworks night in November and the Family Fun Day in August both take place in the field off Eastwood Road.

But the field, which is owned by Rayleigh Town Council, is having a £70,000 drainage system installed in April which means it will be out of action for a year.

The fireworks are organised by Rayleigh Lions and have been running for 25 years while the family fun day went ahead for the first time last year and attracted about 1,500 people.

Last year, the fireworks display was cancelled because of bad weather but usually attracts 2-3,000 people and raises thousands of pounds for charity.

Eddie Hall, president of the Lions, said: “We are frantically looking for alternative sites at the moment and are hoping for the best.

“We are all for running it this year and don’t want to miss out.

“The people of Rayleigh have got used to the event over the years and it’s very popular.

“It has to be a public open space in Rayleigh and has to be kept cheap.

“We are not giving up. The town council are keeping us tuned, they’re very good.”

The new system will improve the quality of the park’s football pitches and prevent them getting waterlogged during the autumn and winter months.

Construction will take about six weeks and involve the park surface being dug up.

Carl Watson, chairman of Rayleigh Chamber of Trade, said: “We’ve emailed Rochford District Council about the possibility of using Fairview Park off Alexandra Road and we are waiting to hear back.

“Unless we can use that we will postpone it until next year.

“We thought about using primary schools but the problem is, the event would be see as more of a school fete rather than an event for the town.“ Mr Watson said the chamber was also looking for a public space to stage their event.

Cheryl Roe, chairman of Rayleigh Town Council, said: “The drainage is something that has to be done.

“We will work together to find somewhere else for them.

"This work is going to help everybody in Rayleigh."

The King George V has two pitches used by about eight teams, both adult and junior, every week Anyone who can help the Lions can call Mr Hall on 01702 230059.