A REPEAT of a Silver Jubilee feat by players from Chepstow rugby club has been foiled by swooping falcons.

They had hoped to take a ball from Chepstow Castle to Elmdale on the Gloucestershire side of the Wye in the Kick to England Challenge, punting it across the river.

But the idea has been abandoned because there are peregrine falcons in the areas and players could get into big trouble if they accidentally hit one of the birds.

Club events co-ordinator Irene Williams said: "It was all planned for 11am (on Monday June 4) before we have our big celebration at the rugby club.

"We've now been told that there are peregrine falcons nesting by the river and that they are a protected species there is a £10,000 fine or six months in prison for harming them.

"It's thousands to one against anything happening but we cannot take the risk.

"I've been in touch with the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and everyone and I can't see any way around it but to cancel.

"It's a real shame because we were asked by the (Chepstow Town) council to recreate the Silver Jubilee event where the ball was kicked across the river.

The cancellation is not the only change of Jubilee plans in the town – health and safety issues also forced a rethink on the beacon planned to be lit overlooking the Severn Bridge at the rugby club.

The original plan was to have a huge bonfire which would have been constructed by the army, town clerk Sandra Bushell told the town council last week.

She said: "There were health and safety issues about the beacon – it could have taken out several buildings if the wind was in the wrong direction."

Motorists entering Wales on the evening of June 4 will see a Jubilee flame as the council has bought a more controllable gas beacon.

Mrs Bushell said: "It will mean we have overspent by between £600 and £700 but on the positive side we do now have a permanent eight-foot beacon."

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations organised by the Community of Bulwark and Thornwell (COMBAT) group and Chepstow Town Council starts at noon and includes stalls, games, displays, music and the lighting of the beacon.