TEMPUS Leisure has announced that its series of popular sporting events throughout Cornwall, previously run by the charity, will not take place after April 1.

Following a tender process by Cornwall Council, the running of leisure services in the county is set to transfer to Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) and the council has confirmed that it has not contracted with GLL to run the Cornwall Triathlon Series and Sportives events.

Tempus Leisure has been running the council’s leisure centres since December 2011 and is currently the biggest provider of swimming, fitness and sporting events in Cornwall.

From April 1 GLL (trading as Better) will take over the running of the Princess Pavilions and 14 leisure centres across the county — including Launceston’s Phoenix Leisure Centre and Bude Splash — following the tender process run by Cornwall Council. GLL (Better) has advised it will be happy to support similar events, by offering the use of leisure facilities, when the new contract starts on April 1, should an operator decide to stage them.

Tempus Leisure said that it will unfortunately not be in a position to continue running the series of events, since its team will be moving to GLL, and some of the equipment and the vehicles required to run the events will be returning to Cornwall Council.

In 2016 more than 900 competitors took part in the Tempus Triathlons, held across Cornwall in Bodmin, Wadebridge, Helston, Falmouth, Liskeard and Penzance. In total the adult competitors swam 399 km, cycled 21,432 km and ran 4560 km. Four locations also held Mini Triathlons with 1,440 children taking part.

Sportives run by Tempus Leisure will also be affected, such as the popular Lands End 100, a picturesque challenge for keen and novice cyclists, which has taken place for the last six years.

Tempus Leisure chief executive, Simon Blamey, said: “The triathlon series and other annual sporting events have proved tremendously successful in engaging the Cornish community, and have become highlights in the sporting calendar for so many people. We are desperately sorry that we won’t be able to continue to deliver these events in 2017.

“These events have showcased the will and determination of hundreds of competitors across the county, and have brought people together — young and old, novice and experienced — encouraging them to get active and ‘have a go’. We hope we have inspired people to continue participating in sporting activities for years to come.”

The final event to be run by Tempus will be the annual An Res Hellys 10 mile multi-terrain run, taking place in and around Helston on Sunday, March 26. Entries are now open for the scenic challenge, which attracted some 400 runners last year and is the fifth race in the Cornwall Road Running Grand Prix Series.