One of the biggest events in the Malmesbury calendar has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Malmesbury Carnival Committee has announced that its full programme of events has been cancelled.

However, the committee is reluctant to break the continuity of the carnival and is looking at ways of presenting a smaller number of virtual carnival events.

They also have the slight hope that they can still celebrate the carnival with a procession, and possibly music, of some kind.

A spokesperson for the carnival committee said: "Since the beginning of the crisis, the committee has discussed in depth what the Covid-19 pandemic seems to mean for the world and especially our country and of course, for Malmesbury.

"We have based our discussions, as you will have, on the information available to all via the various news sites, all of which continue to reflect an ever-changing and difficult picture.

"At this present moment in time the regular updates provided by the government seem to indicate that the country could expect that many of the current (and proposed) measures to combat the infection could well be in place for the greater part of this year.

"It will come as no surprise to you that we all felt that the full programme of events - as currently planned-cannot and will not take place.

"This view is based upon all the considerations currently guiding the government's and everyone else's thinking.

"However, the Committee is naturally reluctant to break the continuity of carnival and so, to ensure that we have some events to brighten the month of August, we are looking at ways of presenting a smaller number of virtual carnival events and we hope to be able to advertise this programme to you in the next few weeks.

"We are also planning for the possibility, however slight, when the country is bathed in sunshine and has been given a clean bill of health by the government so that we can still celebrate carnival with a procession, and possibly music, of some kind. After all, carnival is by the community for the community.

"We will keep you informed of all our plans via the carnival website and Facebook."