ORGANISERS of a major rally event would be foolish to move part of their operation out of Flintshire, a business leader has said.

Concerns have been raised that Dayinsure Wales Rally GB organisers could be considering moving the event's service park and headquarters away from Deeside.

Askar Sheibani, managing director and CEO of Comtek Network Systems and chairman of Deeside Business Forum (DBF), confirmed he had been made aware of the rumours.

But after speaking with the rally organisers Mr Sheibani told the leader he understands no decision has yet been made.

He said: "I was very concerned when I heard the rumours.

"But I don't think it is going to happen - I am very confident in that at the moment.

"I did not take this to all our [business forum] members because it is just a rumour at this stage. "When a decision is about to be made, and if that decision is detrimental, we will react.

"The rally has helped us drastically. It has really created an international profile for Deeside and we are reaping the benefits of that.

"I think it would be very foolish of them to move from here, it is of mutual benefit to work with the business community."

A spokesman for Dayinsure Wales Rally GB said: "The dust hasn’t yet settled on this year’s event and as ever there will be plenty to debrief in the coming months before we start to make plans for next year.

"But we are always looking for new initiatives to ensure that the event remains fresh and exciting – this year we introduced three new stages and brought the action to the streets of Llandudno for the first time with great success.

"We will look at the options for 2019 in due course – nothing, though, has been decided yet.”