Leeds St Patrick's Day Parade will go ahead despite coronavirus fears

The decision, which is made by the organisers, is in line with current UK Government guidance, which has not said that large scale gatherings should be stopped.

Both the parade itself and the Millennium Square event will go ahead.

St Patrick's Day parades in Ireland have been cancelled, as the Irish Government has taken a different approach to the UK in a bid to stop the spread of Covid-19.

A council spokeswoman said the authority was following UK Government advice "very closely".

The parade's twitter account said on Thursday: "As far as we know and unless Government advice changes, the Parade is going ahead.

"If you feel unwell or have respiratory issues, it may be wise to avoid crowds, we need to look out for ourselves and each other."

However, Leeds Irish Health and Homes, who run services to support the Irish diaspora in Leeds, will not be particiapting in Sunday's parade.

Their St Patrick's Day Party on Monday, March 16, is also cancelled.

A statement on Twitter read: "In order to protect the health and well-being of some of the most vulnerable members of our community who rely on us we have taken the regrettable decision to cancel our much anticipated St Patrick’s Day Party on Monday 16th March 2020 and to withdraw from our participation in the Leeds St Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday 15th March 2020.

"We feel this will allow us to keep service users, staff and volunteers as safe as possible in order to help us ensure continuity in the provision of our service to those isolated and vulnerable people who rely on us for their support each week.

"This was not an easy decision and we look forward to being able to share St Patrick’s Day with the community via a ‘special event’ in partnership with a local radio station at midday on Tuesday 17th March."

Eddie Lavelle, vice-chairman of the St Patrick's Day Parade, has said he expects between 2,000 and 3,000 people to attend the event on Sunday.

A colourful parade of nine floats will set off Millennium Square at 11am before returning at 11.45am for an afternoon of family fun until 4pm.