VENUE bosses at Knockhill Racing Circuit have said they are "gutted" after proposals for an increased crowd at one of its flagship events was not granted.

This weekend, round two of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship will take place (see page 51) at Scotland's national motorsport centre, north of Dunfermline, in front of 1,000 spectators in line with the current Scottish Government COVID-19 guidelines.

The event, which did not take place in West Fife last year because of revisions made to the series' calendar in light of the pandemic, is usually one of the largest-attended race days at the circuit along with the Kwik Fit British Touring Cars, which will be held in August.

With a capacity of 25,000, in an open-air venue covering 220 acres, Knockhill said that they had held discussions with both Fife Council and the Scottish Government over being granted an exemption to raise the number of spectators permitted entry to 15 per cent of what they can accommodate.

That would have allowed 3,750 to attend, with officials at the circuit putting forward a "very robust plan", which emphasised spectators were unable to travel using public transport, while spectators' arrival and departure times tend to be staggered throughout.

However, despite being supported by Fife Council, their bid was not given the go-ahead.

Stuart Gray, director of events at Knockhill, told the Press: "We had very encouraging discussions with Fife Council and the Scottish Government, and we had put forward a very robust plan for up to 15 per cent of our capacity.

"Our capacity here is 25,000 so we were hoping that by requesting 15 per cent, given the fact we've got 220 acres of land here, that that would be acceptable.

"Fife Council were informed at the same time as we were that the exemption couldn't be granted. We've just got to accept it and there's no option but to carry on and do what we can.

"Both ourselves and Fife Council are disappointed but we've just got to follow the guidelines and hope that come later in July and by early August, things will be going back to more normality.

"We're gutted. The spectators are gutted and we know that local businesses are disappointed, missing out on accommodation and restaurant business. It affects the local economy when a big event comes to town but we've just got to run with it and hope that from touring cars onwards, things will bounce back.

"In the short-term, everything was looking promising for a one-off exemption to the guidelines because of the nature of the venue, the nature of the sport and all the things we've just touched on but it wasn't to be."

If a Scottish Government review next week allows Scotland to move to Level 0 of its protection level restrictions from July 19, numbers allowed to attend sports stadia would be increased.

Fife Council's environmental health service manager, Lisa McCann, confirmed that they have been in discussions with the team at Knockhill and the Scottish Government about the Superbikes event this weekend, commenting: "Under the current guidance, the venue is at maximum capacity for the event this weekend."

The Press approached the Scottish Government for comment but had not received a response at the time of going to print.