BUSHY parkrun's Saturday 19 February race has been cancelled by the Royal Parks after Teddington and the surrounding areas were battered by Storm Eunice.

The 5k timed run is popular with Teddington residents and had been due to take place as normal tomorrow once the storm had blown over.

However, a planned health & safety inspection of the park to check it is safe for public entry will not be finished in time for the race to start at 9am as usual.

Bushy park, Richmond park and a number of tourist attractions in and around Teddington have been closed today due to fears of falling trees and debris.

Storm Eunice has brought strong winds of over 40mph and felled several trees in Teddington, damaging buildings and street furniture. No injuries have been reported.

Parkrun director for Richmond, Andy Caie said: "The Royal Parks have closed the park today, with a Health and Safety inspection taking place before potential reopening on Saturday morning.

"The inspection will not be concluded until after our normal start time so our event is cancelled.

"We hope normal service will be resumed from the 26th."

Bushy parkrun tweeted: "** EVENT CANCELLED*** Royal Parks have cancelled all events for tomorrow, so there will be no Bushy parkrun tomorrow, Saturday 19th February."

Many other parkruns across the country have been called off, including nearby Kingston.

Parkrun chief executive, Russ Jefferys, said: "Understandably, many @parkrun events cancelling due to #StormEunice this weekend.

"Trust the event teams to make the right call, even (and especially) if it's a v late decision. Yes it's disappointing to have to cancel but there's always next weekend."

The Royal Parks said Richmond and Bushy parks will not re-open until they are confirmed safe.

A spokesperson said: "We will monitor the forecast closely over the next 24 hours and will communicate updates via our website www.royalparks.org.uk, twitter account @theroyalparks and Facebook pages.

"We will reopen all parks, including Bushy Park as soon as it's safe to do so. Until the parks are open it will not be possible to visit the parks for any purpose."

Find the latest Teddington Storm Eunice updates on our liveblog HERE