SHOWS and concerts in the district have been cancelled this week, following Government advice to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

A week-long run of Sir Matthew Bourne's dance spectacular The Red Shoes, due at the Alhambra from tonight to Saturday, is not going ahead.

A statement from Bradford Theatres said: "Following the recommendation from the UK government, we can confirm that all performances scheduled to take place at Bradford Theatres’ venues this week have unfortunately been cancelled or rescheduled by the visiting companies. We ask all ticket holders to avoid contacting Bradford Theatres directly. The Box Office team will be in touch as soon as possible with those affected for shows this week.

"For forthcoming performances from March 23 onwards, we are in discussions with producers and will keep our ticket holders informed. The safety and health of our staff and visitors is our number one priority and we will continue to follow any recommendations from the relevant authorities and implement all appropriate instructions accordingly."

Abba tribute Thank You For The Music, due at King’s Hall in Ilkley on Thursday, and a Northern Soul night, due at St George's Hall on Friday, will be re-scheduled. A Mother’s Day heritage tour and afternoon tea at St George’s Hall on Saturday is cancelled.

The organisers of Circus Montini in Peel Park said it was "doubtful" that performances would continue this week. Today's performance is due to go ahead, and the circus was due to run until Sunday.

Spokesman Angie Hook said: "We have a 250 people capacity per performance. Weekdays probably half and weekends full. The show will run this evening, because we have a special deal on and a lot of tickets were sold. We are unsure about rest of week but it is doubtful. Our website will be updated as and when we know."

Shows, classes and other events at Kala Sangam in Bradford and Otley Courthouse have been cancelled until the end of April.

Alex Croft, creative director of Kala Sangam, said: "These are unprecedented times, we're worried about surviving this period but we'll also be doing our best to make sure the artists we work with and tenants in our building get through these tricky times. The fact that we have not been told to close, and have had to make this decision independently, has made things so much more uncertain - I hope there's much clearer guidance from the Government soon, otherwise I fear for the future of our theatres and arts centres."

An Otley Courthouse spokesman said the situation will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, and added: "We are talking to other organisations within Otley to see how we can help as a resource centre during this time. As we are a registered charity, we will be working hard to safeguard funds. In line with other venues, we are asking patrons to consider supporting the charity by donating any refunds due back to the venue to help get us back on our feet when all of this is over - this would be gratefully appreciated.

A Bradford Playhouse spokesman said productions of The Vicar of Dibley and Firebringer were cancelled this week. "We're reviewing it on a week by week basis," she said.

A statement from Square Chapel in Halifax said: "The safety of our staff, volunteers and visitors is of paramount importance to us. So therefore, in response to the Government’s latest advice, we have made the decision to close Square Chapel Arts Centre to the public from today, Tuesday, March 17. We will be reviewing this on a regular basis."

Cinemas across the UK and Ireland are shutting down due to the coronavirus. Major chains including Odeon, Cineworld and Picturehouse have announced plans to close their doors for the foreseeable future, following updated guidance on the Covid-19 outbreak.

Cineworld and Picturehouse are shutting all UK outlets starting from tomorrow. Cineworld Group chief executive Mooky Greidinger said: "At Cineworld and Picturehouse we are committed to providing safe and healthy environments for our employees and guests and have therefore made the difficult decision to close our cinemas in UK and Ireland until further notice.

"We deeply value our cinema-loving customers and have no doubt we will be serving everyone again as soon as possible with a full slate of Hollywood blockbusters and the best of independent films and content."