ORGANISERS of a popular raft race on Canvey are being forced to turn away people who wish to take part because it has become so oversubscribed due to its high popularity.

The annual Canvey Rotary Club Raft Race, which draws in crowds of thousands of people from south Essex, is set to take place on Sunday July 1 at Thorney Bay Beach, on the island.

Now in its fourth year, the event sees groups and individuals create fun rafts and race for a chance to win £250.

Each year racing hopefuls all get geared up in their teams with their creative rafts and battle to be crowned the winner.

The event sees about four or five different heat races and the winners of each heat race go through to the final race and the winner is awarded the prize fund.

Rod Bishop, 75, spokesman for the club, said since the start of the year groups have rushed to register to take part.

He said: “We have had to limit the number of entries to 20 due to space, we may have a few more but at the moment we have limited the numbers.

“We have already turned away about eight different teams who were so eager to take part in the raft race and they were disappointed.

“It’s just wonderful that the even has become so popular that we are this oversubscribed and we are very pleased about it.”

The club has noticed that there was there has been a large increase in the number of people take part over the recent years.

He said: “The first year that we held the event we had about 10 people take part in the race and last year there were about 18 teams enter the race.

“The beach gets so busy because it will be during the holiday period and people love going to the beach on Canvey because the beaches are so lovely on the island.”

Mr Bishop said the preparation for the event is all going very well so far. He works with the London Port of Authority who has to give the club permission to hold the event.

The RNLI Coastguard also supports the event on the day as well as the Island Yacht Club and the sea scouts.

He said that entry to the event opens in January and applications are submitted as soon as the application process begins, he said that people often try and book straight after the event each year.

Mr Bishop said: “The event often draws big crowds and in previous years we have had a few thousand-people watching the race, and I suspect that it will be the same this year if not more.

“In the past we have had rafts which have not made it through the case but the life boat crew are on hand to help if and where needed.

“We encourage teams to get sponsored, including charities, previous winners include the Indee Rose Trust charity.”

Anyone interested in joining a raft race style event can also apply for the Thorpe Bay Rotary Club Raft Race which is held on Sunday July 29, for more see www.thorpebayrotaryevents.co.uk/raftrace.html