WARRINGTON Music Festival has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Live events have been grinding to a halt with Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging people to avoid venues and large gatherings to slow the spread of the virus.

The annual open air festival champions Warrington's grassroots talent and was due to be held at Old Market Place in Golden Square in May.

Organiser Steve Oates said: "Due to the seriousness of the situation we have decided that we wont be running the Warrington Music Festival in May this year.

"We're disappointed for ourselves because we all love working on this event and for the musicians who were booked to perform.

"We're also disappointed for the town centre bars, restaurants and taxi operators who benefit financially from the event and for the supporters of live music and emerging talent, many of whom I've seen in the crowd since we started in 2007."

Talks are currently taking place with the hope of rescheduling the festival for September.

Steve added: "If that's possible then that's what we'll do. I really hope that we all get the chance to eat, drink, sing, dance and cheer together again after this goes away. Until then it really is about us all keeping ourselves, our families, friends and communities safe."

Last year Warrington Music Festival welcomed Shaun Ryder’s Black Grape, The Farm and Clint Boon as well as around 20 up-and-coming bands who performed to crowds of up to 3,000.