'It's a challenge across the industry and the country' - staff issues hit York

The staffing problem besetting racecourses was underlined on Sunday when York revealed it was around 100 people short of a full complement on its record-breaking Coral Sprint Trophy day.

The track reported its final meeting of 2021 on Saturday had its best ever attendance of 22,326, but it is the latest to reveal the difficulties it has faced in finding a workforce to cope with the return of crowds.

Chief executive William Derby said: "I was at a conference with other racecourses earlier in the week and catering staff is a challenge across the whole industry and across the country.