Cheltenham Festivals have announced the cancellation of this year's Music Festival amid the coronavirus crisis.

The 76th Cheltenham Music Festival was due to take place between July 3 and July 12, and would have seen more than forty events take place across 12 venues in the spa town.

A statement released this afternoon said: "With deep regret we have taken the decision to cancel this year's Cheltenham Music Festival.

"We had been optimistic that our Music Festival could still go ahead in July, but because of the continuing impact of the COVID 19 virus, we must put the safety of our audiences, artists, staff and volunteers first. We are sorry for this additional disappointment, following the cancellation of our Jazz and Science Festivals."

Concerts planned from the Aurora Orchestra with Dame Sarah Connolly; the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with violinist Tasmin Little; and the Philharmonia with their new conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali and pianist Alice Sara Ott have all been pulled from the charity's summer programme.

The Festival's 'prelude' weekend at Syde Manor has also been cancelled - which was due to be performed by The Leonore Piano Trio and friends, celebrating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.

The statement added: "At the forefront of our minds are the wonderful artists and ensembles who will no longer be able to perform in Cheltenham this summer. We are working hard to find a way to bring them back as soon as we can.

"We are delighted to announce that our Literature Festival in October will be expanded to include some of the most popular elements of our Jazz, Science and Music Festivals.

"More will be revealed in due course."

The senior management of the festival added that they are enormously grateful to their friends and supporters who continue to rally round so generously to help safeguard the future of the Festivals.