WORLDWIDE coverage of Bolton's Commonwealth Games cycling race could be thrown into chaos by rain.

Fears about the weather have prompted the BBC's director of Games programming, Malcolm Kemp, to warn that the course would be "better held somewhere else".

He also said choosing Rivington had dramatically increased the cost of filming the event.

The ongoing row over the choice of venue for the race seemed to be over when Mr Kemp gave Rivington the thumbs-up a week ago following a trial test run of the track.

But in an exclusive interview with the BEN, Mr Kemp admitted he was not 100 per cent happy and revealed the venue had been "very much in the balance" until as late as last week.

Although he accepts the event will go ahead in Bolton, he said: "Rain will destroy our coverage. It weakens the signals and leads to a picture break-up.

"We tested the track last week when the weather was good but in this country you can't predict whether it will rain or not.

"We can cover the event but it means we have to go belt and braces into it with far more equipment than we used in Kuala Lumpur and Canada."

Television viewers would face blank screens if the event is blighted by bad weather, he said, and even the extra cameras and an additional helicopter would not help in a downpour.

The mobile cameras will not function properly with wet trees above them.

Mr Kemp said: "There has been some pruning of the trees which has helped but there is still far too much foliage in the area, far more than in any Games I have covered whether Commonwealth or Olympics.

"The only real good thing about the choice of track is that it would look nice on camera."

Mr Kemp's comments have startled Commonwealth Games organisers who believed the controversy surrounding the choice of venue had been resolved.

A spokesman for the Games said: "As far as we are aware the BBC are happy with the course. It certainly will not be moved or altered. Rain can be an issue anywhere, even in Kuala Lumpar."

The row originally erupted when the BBC urged organisers to trim a set of trees which were overgrown along part of the route.

Producers said branches would block signals from their motorbike cameramen to a helicopter flying overhead.

United Utilities trimmed the trees and it was thought that had ended the matter especially as last week's testing of the track appeared to go smoothly.

Beamed

Pictures of Rivington are expected to be beamed into millions of homes across the world.

If the rain cuts coverage, it could have a devastating effect on the publicity the area would receive.

Jim Hendry, course planner for the British Cycling Federation, said: "We're running a Commonwealth Games road championship not a TV race.

"The Federation is happy with the track; the riders think it's a damned good course and that's that.

"We will not do anything to the course just for television and there will be no more applications for tree pruning." WORLDWIDE coverage of Bolton's Commonwealth Games cycling race could be thrown into chaos by rain.

Fears about the weather have prompted the BBC's director of Games programming, Malcolm Kemp, to warn that the course would be "better held somewhere else".

He also said choosing Rivington had dramatically increased the cost of filming the event.

The ongoing row over the choice of venue for the race seemed to be over when Mr Kemp gave Rivington the thumbs-up a week ago following a trial test run of the track.

Happy

But in an exclusive interview with the BEN, Mr Kemp admitted he was not 100 per cent happy and revealed the venue had been "very much in the balance" until as late as last week.

Although he accepts the event will go ahead in Bolton, he said: "Rain will destroy our coverage. It weakens the signals and leads to a picture break-up.

"We tested the track last week when the weather was good but in this country you can't predict whether it will rain or not.

"We can cover the event but it means we have to go belt and braces into it with far more equipment than we used in Kuala Lumpur and Canada."

Television viewers would face blank screens if the event is blighted by bad weather, he said, and even the extra cameras and an additional helicopter would not help in a downpour.

The mobile cameras will not function properly with wet trees above them.

Mr Kemp said: "There has been some pruning of the trees which has helped but there is still far too much foliage in the area, far more than in any Games I have covered whether Commonwealth or Olympics.

"The only real good thing about the choice of track is that it would look nice on camera."

Mr Kemp's comments have startled Commonwealth Games organisers who believed the controversy surrounding the choice of venue had been resolved.

A spokesman for the Games said: "As far as we are aware the BBC are happy with the course. It certainly will not be moved or altered. Rain can be an issue anywhere, even in Kuala Lumpar."

The row originally erupted when the BBC urged organisers to trim a set of trees which were overgrown along part of the route.

Producers said branches would block signals from their motorbike cameramen to a helicopter flying overhead.

United Utilities trimmed the trees and it was thought that had ended the matter especially as last week's testing of the track appeared to go smoothly.

Beamed

Pictures of Rivington are expected to be beamed into millions of homes across the world.

If the rain cuts coverage, it could have a devastating effect on the publicity the area would receive.

Jim Hendry, course planner for the British Cycling Federation, said: "We're running a Commonwealth Games road championship not a TV race.

"The Federation is happy with the track; the riders think it's a damned good course and that's that.

"We will not do anything to the course just for television and there will be no more applications for tree pruning."