More than 500 motorcyclists were expected to hand out Easter Eggs at the annual event between Durham University Hospital and Darlington Memorial Hospital on Sunday.

But this year's early Easter – the earliest in 95 years – left the first weekend of spring struggling to shake off the winter weather, with heavy snow falls across the North East.

Event organiser Sergeant Iain Rodgers, of the motorcycle section for Durham Police, said: "We've had to cancel the event because there is too much snow on the roads and car parks.

"There is some snow here in Durham, but it is a lot worse in Darlington and we can't really encourage people to go out on the roads in weather like this.

"We had a risk assessment and we decided it was not safe to do it so the Easter eggs will be distributed to the hospitals at a later date."

The event, in its fourth year, was organised by the police force as a way of promoting motorcycle road safety.

Strong winds and heavy snow turned Sunderland and County Durham into a winter wonderland over Easter.

The Met Office issued severe weather warnings for the North East and forecast two centimetres of snow in most parts with up to 10cm on high ground.

Durham was hit hardest and police were forced to close the A66 Transpennine way for two nights after lorries got stuck in the snow.