Organisers of one of Suffolk's biggest firework displays are determined to recoup £10,000 in losses after the event was cancelled due to the discovery of three unexploded bombs.

The Big Night Out is held in Long Melford to mark Bonfire Night every November and usually attracts around 10,000 people a year.

Returning for the first time in two years, the event was cancelled just 48 hours before after three unexploded mortar bombs were discovered on the grounds of Melford Hall.

President of Project Seven, the local fundraising organisation that runs the Big Night Out, Andrew Haggar said: "We won't be able to give any money away this year as we usually do."

Since Project Seven started running the event in 1982, the community group has raised £750,000 for local charitable causes, including Breakthrough Breast Cancer Suffolk, St Nicholas Hospice Care and Suffolk and Essex small animal welfare.

Project Seven has offered refunds and will be holding another refund day at Melford Hall on Saturday, November 19, between 10am and 2pm.

However, Mr Haggar said he'd been touched by those who attended the last refund day and ripped their tickets up, preferring to give the money to the group's charitable causes instead.

"For some of the groups, our donation runs them for the year," he added.

Project Seven has started a GoFundMe page aiming to replace the £10,000 losses from this year's Big Night Out, which would cover the cost of the fireworks, laser show and insurance policy.

For local resident and businessman Stuart Poole, the Big Night Out is an event close to his heart.

"My late father Bryan Poole was one of the original group who started the Big Night Out in 1969 and I want his community work to live on," said Mr Poole.

Mr Poole emphasised that Project Seven's events bring in money for their charity work and said the last-minute cancellation would "drastically affect" their output over the next year.

Earlier this year, the future of the event was called into question after the National Trust withdrew permission for use of the parkland.

After the trust u-turned this decision, Project Seven had hoped they'd be able to hold the event for the first time since 2019 after it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Project Seven is hoping to return to Melford Hall to hold the Big Night Out again next November.