A new date for the cancelled Chester Pride festival is set to be announced by the end of the week, but organisers still need donations from the public to ensure the upcoming event is a success.

Hundreds of people were left gutted when high winds forced organisers to postpone last Saturday's LGBT+ event on health and safety grounds, with Chester Pride chair Warren Allmark describing it as 'the hardest call ever'.

Because of the money they lost due to the postponement, a GoFundMe  page was set up to help cover operating costs, and this has now raised more than £2,500 of their £5,000 target.

But organisers say they 'ain't out of the woods just yet' despite securing a new date, which they hope to announce on Friday.

"A new date has been successfully secured, we just need to confirm a few things then we are able to deliver on our promise of a revised Chester Pride 2019," they wrote on their Facebook page.

"We're coming back bigger and stronger. We as a committee would like to thank you for all your kind messages of support and donations. However we are not out of the woods just yet and really need the communities support to hit the £5k total needed.

"We have been able to assess our losses a little more from this Saturday's postponed event. The community support has been fantastic looking at the donation bucket collections on Saturday and we thank you. But we ain't out the woods just yet and this is where we ask you for your help.

"If everyone on our Facebook page donated £5 we would be in a much stronger position to help towards our new date, which we will announce at the end of this week. The team have a huge task ahead this week and are 100% committed to the hard work ahead."

Meanwhile, despite some criticism on social media about calling the event off because of the weather, there has mainly been a large outpouring of support from the public.

One person said: "I've been heartbroken for you guys. Heartbroken and annoyed that people had the audacity to criticise that it was postponed. Thank you all for your hard word to make Chester Pride happen."

And another wrote: "The committee does an amazing job, making Chester Pride bigger and better every year, so thank you to them all, it’s been wet weather for previous events, but no forecast like the one given for Saturday!

"Yes, onwards and upwards and we’ll all do our best to help you make 2019 better than ever."

You can donate to the GoFundMe page here