This year's Eye Show has a new venue and organisers are hoping it will be better than ever. For 30 years the event was held at Dragon Hill, on the outskirts of Eye, but because of proposed development on farmland used for car parking the show had to find a new venue.

This year's Eye Show has a new venue and organisers are hoping it will be better than ever. For 30 years the event was held at Dragon Hill, on the outskirts of Eye, but because of proposed development on farmland used for car parking the show had to find a new venue.

Earlier this year it was announced that it would be moving six miles away to Goodrich Park, off the A143 at Palgrave.

Last night , as work started on the 54-acre parkland site, show director Tim Seeley said that the move was a chance to freshen it up.

“It's going to be a different experience for our visitors. At our old site they were parking on stubble and crossing roads to get to the site.

“Here they will be in the show ground. They will be able to park up and have a picnic on the grass. I'm hopeful it's going to be a great improvement.”

The larger site means expanding some areas and bringing back attractions, such as the horse show.

A new countryside area is also being created, where there will be fly fishing and sheep shearing.

Some of the other 500 exhibitors include Olympic high divers, motorcycle display teams, dog displays, as well as steam and vintage vehicles and trade and craft stalls.

Mr Seeley said he was hopeful that Goodrich Park would become a more permanent home for the show, which attracts up to 40,000 people over the Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday.

“We are looking at it as our future venue. It's a very nice setting and we've had a lot of co-operation with the landowners.

“I would say it's a step forward. But it has to work. A change of site is a worrying thing, we hope that we will carry the support here with us.”

This year's show is costing about £150,000 to put on, and Mr Seeley said their costs had increased by about 15pc because of policing and traffic management around the site.

But each year about £5,000 is donated to local organisations, while charities are able to raise more than £15,000 for themselves from their stands.

Mr Seeley added that such shows needed to look for new ideas to keep attracting visitors.

“I just hope the mix is right. It has the right feel about it.

“I don't know where this is going to go in the future. People's choices are so much greater, people travel more and see bigger and better things.

“It will be interesting over the next few years to see how things will develop.

“We need to find new ideas but equally to find ways of bringing the costs back a bit. We are having to do quite a bit of work to the site, to make sure it's safe and usable, but they are one-off costs... The idea is to continue to develop the show.”

The show starts at 10am on both days. Admission is £8.50, £4 for children.