The Bottleneck car park area.

The company informed the licensing court on Thursday it is withdrawing its application for this year due to ’extenuating circumstances’.

In January, the brewery was granted permission to run its bar, supported by entertainment consultants MJR and William Hodgson from Symphotech Safety Consultants.

Hooded Ram had planned a festival event for this year’s TT, complete with headline shows during race week featuring ’international touring artists’.

However, the company’s lawyer, Jerry Carter, told the court, chaired by Deputy High Bailiff Chris Arrowsmith, that the Hooded Ram had been forced to withdraw its application due to ’entirely extenuating factors’.

Mr Carter said that Hooded Ram was not able to obtain insurance for the event due to the public health concerns created by the coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

Mr Carter said this ’would leave the organisers responsible for costs’ if the event had to be cancelled on health grounds.

He added: ’Strategic decisions had to be taken. But they are limited to this application.

’There is no sign the TT festival will not happen and I would stress we want to avoid alarming people.’

Mr Arrowsmith said the reason for cancelling the 2020 Hooded Ram tent was ’clearly very material’ and he expressed his regret for the company being forced to make the decision.

He added: ’Hopefully, we will see them again applying for next year’s event.’

The Hooded Ram’s application for the 2019 TT was rejected and its application was heavily criticised by the licensing court.

However, for this event, the court and the police had praised Hooded Ram for its professionalism and organisation in working with event management and safety specialists.

While Hooded Ram has made a decision, competitors Heron and Brearley and Bushy’s are continuing to monitor the situation.

A spokesman for H&B said:

"As plans for the TT festival remained unchanged as present, our plans for The Trackside venue remain unchanged. We will continue to monitor the situation and will follow any government directives."

Bushy’s boss Martin Brunnschweiler said that he is ’assuming’ the TT will go ahead but is monitoring events.

He added: ’Hopefully it won’t be left until late in the day before they decide. With foot and mouth in 2001, it was late when they made a decision and, from a brewer’s point of view, if it has to be called, then we’d rather it be done soon.’