THE Youth Race has been postponed due to weather conditions with strong winds looking set to hit the south coast. 

A spokeswoman for the Brighton Half Youth Race said that it was unable to build the infrastructure needed for the youth race to go ahead on Sunday. 

The decision has been made to postpone the junior races for later in the year. 

This comes as strong winds look set to hit the Brighton Half Marathon, with forecasters predicting wind speeds of up to 47 miles per hour.

The spokeswoman said: "Due to the weather conditions this week, we are unfortunately unable to build the infrastructure for the Youth Race to go ahead successfully on Sunday and have taken the decision to postpone our junior races.

"We plan to reschedule the Youth Race for later in the year and will let you know in due course about this. Please keep hold of your T-shirts and race numbers so you can use them again.

"The Sussex Beacon apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused you and we thank you for your continued support."

Thousands of runners will descend upon the seafront to take part in the annual test of speed and endurance tomorrow.

The Grand Brighton Half Marathon will see runners set off from Madeira Drive at 9.30am, arcing around into Marine Drive before setting off west towards Ovingdean.

Though the race starts at 9.30am, runners are advised to arrive at least an hour early with the Race Village and help desk being open from 7.30am.

BBC Weather predicts southwesterly winds for the event of 47 miles per hour.

The Met Office predicts southwesterly winds of 53 miles per hour.