Cancellation of this month's Dakar Rally has come as a bitter blow for Verwood's Paul Green who has spent the last two years preparing for the famous event.

A rally raid specialist, Green had devoted much of the last 24 months building a new Desert Warrior especially for the Dakar (which he has contested four times in the past) and was due to be run on the event by the experienced RallyeRaid Team.

He last competed on the Dakar in 2005 where he finished 46th overall - the only British team to complete the course on four wheels.

Like the other private entries, who need to raise at least £100,000 just to take part this year, he was devastated at the decision to scrap the 2008 event due to terrorist threats, in Mauritania.

Especially as this came only the day before the 15 day, 5,762 mile rally was due to begin in Lisbon.

Green was especially disappointed for his co-driver who had travelled from Australia to take part.

"Everyone was gutted, we were called into the meeting just 24 hours before the start and told it was off due to advice from the French government," said Green.

He now believes that the cancellation could spell the end of the Dakar Rally.

"Nobody's going to spend this kind of money again only for the same thing to happen. I think this is the end of desert rallying as we know it," he added.

However, there was one ray of hope this week when participants were told that the organisers are hoping to put on a rally in the Czech Republic in May and that they would all get free entries.

The abandoning of the 2008 Dakar has also hit the 2009 plans of Poole's Excite Rallye Raide team of John Hardy and Simon Philbrick who were hoping to place their order for a new Desert Warrior from the RallyRaid team within the next few weeks.

Team manager Alex Mellon said that they have now effectively decided to move their efforts on a year and hope to have everything ready for 2010.

"We needed to have all the finance in place by the end of February this year so that we could place are order for the car, but with this year's cancellation still in the news, sponsors are unlikely to back something that might not happen."

However Hardy says he is still confident that the rally, in some shape or form, will go ahead in the future.

"It's very sad and disappointing that this had to happen, but the organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation, are a big set-up and I am sure they won't want to abandon this historic event completely.

"In the past they have changed the route, the Sahara is a big place, there must be alternative routes through safer locations that they can use," added Hardy.