CHARITY motorbike event Hoggin’ the Bridge will finish in Caldicot Castle this year, moving the event away from Chepstow.

The event, which takes riders over the Severn Bridge, previously finished in Chepstow, but the former Hoggin’ The Bridge Club Committee has joined with Caldicot Town Team to bring the finish line to Caldicot Castle.

Caldicot Town Team’s Aaron Reeks, who was also on the Hoggin’ The Bridge Club Committee for seven years, said the move came after the event faced closure.

“At the end of last year the original Hoggin’ The Bridge Club Committee members were looking at hanging up their boots, so me and some other members of the committee who were left looked at how we could keep it going,” he said.

“We were in agreement that the [Chepstow] racecourse was not the right option, a lot of Chepstow people thought it was not the right place.

“The Caldicot Town Team has a good relationship with Caldicot Castle so it was a good choice, it gives us flexibility to bring in a range of products and stores into the area. It is a fantastic location.”

As in previous years, the 2017 event will start at the Severn View services on Sunday 8th October.

Riders will then follow the M48 to Magor where they will turn around making their way through Undy, Rogiet and finish at Caldicot Castle where there will be music, food and traders.

Despite bypassing Chepstow, Mr Reeks believes some riders will still stop in the town.

He said: “What we find every year is that we do get a lot of people coming straight off the bridge and stopping off at Chepstow and we expect to see some of that again.”

In terms of trade, Mr Reeks expects the stalls to migrate to Caldicot Castle. He said: “If anything, we want to see an increase in stalls and people. We want to get people and families coming down and getting involved, have them watch the bikes go past and then come and be a part of it.

“We are also trying to prompt local business to get into the castle grounds at the finish and we encourage anyone from Chepstow and Caldicot and the surrounding area to get in contact.”

For Mr Reeks, the most important part of the change was continuing the event “It is not about taking it out of Chepstow, it was about keeping an event going rather than losing something that raises so much money for a good cause.”

In a statement the Hoggin’ the Bridge Club Committee said: “Hoggin’ the Bridge Club have been very successful in raising over £100,000 in the seven years that the club has been operating.

“Having had the privilege of organising the event, the club has now decided to hang up its boots making 2016 the last one that is organised by us.”

In future the event will organised by a small group from the former committee working under the umbrella of Caldicot Town Team, it will continue to raise money for a number of charities with the much of the support going to meningitis charity Meningitis Now.

Entries for the event are expected to open around May.