A memorial service for families affected by the trauma of stillbirth has been cancelled due to a clash with this weekend’s Old Firm game.

Hundreds of parents from across the West of Scotland were due to attend the service run by the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death charity (SANDS) at Holy Cross Church in Crosshill, in Glasgow’s South Side on Sunday at 2.30pm.

However, the charity was unaware that the Scottish League Cup semi-final between Celtic and Rangers was due to kick off 25 minutes earlier at Hampden Park.

It has now taken the decision to re-schedule the remembrance service due to concerns about traffic volume and parking, and the impact of large crowds of supporters in the area making their way to the match.

The organisers are now desperately trying to contact around 400 families from Glasgow and Lanarkshire who have been invited to the service. Clergy and hospital staff from maternity units were also due to attend.

The service has been rescheduled for Sunday, November 20 at 2.30pm.

Jean-Anne Mitchell, of SANDS said: “It’s all due to the logistics. They are happening at around the same time. The service has been held for about 25 years and there is always a struggle for parking. It’s an issue. There are about 400 families coming.

“A lot of families who are recently bereaved will be holding this day so preciously. It’s a struggle for everyone but when it’s their first service, it’s always a big thing.We are now just trying to let all the families know.”

The bi-annual service of remembrance has been held by the charity for the past 25 years.

It is organised to commemorate all babies who die through stillbirth, neonatal death or miscarriage.

Parents are asked to bring a single flower as a token of remembrance for each baby.

There are more than 3,600 stillbirths every year in the UK, and one in every 200 births ends in a stillbirth. Eleven babies are stillborn every day in the UK, making it 15 times more common than cot death. For more information or support go to https://www.uk-sands.org/