NEARLY 200 years of tradition is to be uprooted with the end of Ipswich Flower Show – it's fallen victim to the march of time.The hardy annual has finally withered after 174 years of glorious colour.

NEARLY 200 years of tradition is to be uprooted with the end of Ipswich Flower Show – it's fallen victim to the march of time.

The hardy annual has finally withered after 174 years of glorious colour.

Exhibitors and visitors alike have both dropped over the past two years – leaving organisers with very little choice but to prune the event from the calendar.

The show's committee is now informing all faithful supporters of their decision.

"It was inevitable, I'm afraid," said organiser Bernard Revans. "Most of the people running the show are getting into their 70s.

"And the number of people visiting the show is also falling – last year at Otley there were 1,250 people who turned up to see it and we thought that was something we could build on.

"This year it's fallen to just over 1,000 – it's time to call it a day. It's very sad."

Host Otley College has also been told the decision, along with a vote of thanks for its support.

Otley has been host of the show for the last two years after a fall in numbers meant it was no longer viable at its former home on the Suffolk Show Ground.

It moved there in 1996 after moving from its long-term home on Christchurch Park.

During the mid 1990s it would attract thousands of visitors during the two-day show, but its popularity has declined steeply since then.

It looked as if the 2001 show would be the last until Otley College stepped in – but now that too has bitten the dust.

Mr Revans said the organisers also thanked the Evening Star, Radio Suffolk and Thompson and Morgan for continued support.

"If there is someone else out there who feels they want to step in and take this on, then they should call the college – but it looks like the end of the road, I'm afraid," he said.