Chelmsford has called off Saturday’s scheduled card due to storm damage.

The high winds which battered much of the UK from storms Eunice and Franklin last weekend damaged the infrastructure at the Essex track and health and safety experts have been bought in to assess the situation.

Clerk of the Course Andy Waitt said: “We don’t know how long it will take to get things up and running. We are getting the storm damage assessed at the moment.

“The buildings are being repaired that were damaged and we are just getting some of the floodlights inspected by engineers, just to make sure everything is OK.

“Once that is sorted, hopefully we will be back up and running.

“I’m afraid it is a case of ‘how long is a piece of string’ until the engineers can give the green light.

“It is a health and safety issue. It is not drastic damage. We just want to make sure everything health and safety-wise is safe for people to be there.

“There was some roof damage to several buildings – tiles and things blown off – and some damage to the floodlights.

“Once we get those inspected, we should be nearer to knowing when we can get back to racing again. It is a health and safety issue and we can’t take any chances.”

An extra all-weather fixture at Wolverhampton will now take place on Saturday, with entries closing on Thursday and declarations on Friday.