MOTOR sports enthusiasts have defended the rally at Eastnor at the weekend.

Villagers in Castlemorton worried they would be "imprisoned " in their own homes while the Three Shire Stages rally took place on Saturday.

The event was centred on the Eastnor estate, but included rural lanes around the Malvern Hills and Castlemorton Common.

Ian Green, of Hanley Swan, near Malvern, said: " I've just returned from the Eastnor Park section of the rally having been surrounded by happy enthusiasts having a great outing to see the cars tearing along the track.

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"Such events are not everybody's cup of tea but then if we were all the same what a dull world if would be.

"I recall the Milk Race going through the centre of Great Malvern. Hundreds of spectators watched the cyclists, Malvern was enjoying huge national press attention.

"However, the next week, nothing but moans from shopkeepers saying no one could enter their shops.

"So to those who felt they were trapped in their houses for a brief while, could I ask them to live and let live."