'˜It will not die a death' '“ team launches new Portsmouth BeachBuggin' car rally

Charlotte Cox has told The News she and a team of four others, including her partner Jason Crotty, will start Beach Dubbin’ – a direct replacement for BeachBuggin’ in Southsea.

As reported, Allyson O’Connor had hit out at Portsmouth City Council over the event saying it could no longer go on after 18 years of shows on Southsea Common.

Charlotte works at Farmers Choice, in Segensworth, which has been a sponsor of BeachBuggin’ in previous years.

Now Charlotte says Allyson has given her ‘blessing’ for the new team to take over – and a date has already been provisionally set for August 5.

‘The five of us have been involved in BeachBuggin’ either through sponsoring or volunteering, helping park the cars and run the show.

‘We’ve all been heavily involved over the years.’

The new team are hoping to attract the same crowd to the event, but admit this year’s will be smaller as they rush to plan it in just four months.

Charlotte said Allyson is set to meet with council chiefs on April 9 to formalise handing over to her and the new team.

‘The event itself will be run exactly the same as it was before, it’s not for profit and we’ll be nominating a charity to donate to,’ she said.

‘The show this year is slightly different with the time constraints but it does mean we can start planning for next year.

‘It will not die a death.’

The new organisers include Kate Burch from JKM Motor Services Ltd, Mark Burch from Splitty Wedding Hire and Caravanilla, and Sue Sharley.

As previously reported, Portsmouth City Council said it wanted to make sure ‘adequate safety measures are in place’ and last year there had been problems with vehicles moving near the war memorial.

Councillor Donna Jones, leader, said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted, our expectation was that there would always be an event this year. We appreciate it’s grown in popularity and success.’