DARLINGTON council has cancelled all events until the end of June, while the carnival has been postponed.

The authority had already closed many of its buildings as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

David French, chairman of the Darlington Community Carnival committee, said the decision had been made with a "heavy heart".

He added: "We will continue to closely monitor and act on the latest Government advice and will re-schedule the event if possible later in the year."

Darlington Borough Council has shut many of its buildings, and has now cancelled all of its events until the end of June.

The town hall customer services centre is closed to anyone who does not have an appointment.,

Among the closed venues are the Dolphin Centre, Crown Street and Cockerton libraries, Eastbourne sports complex, Head of Steam and Darlington Hippodrome.

Dozens of events scheduled to take place in the coming weeks and months have already been cancelled.

A statement by the council said: "It’s with a heavy heart we’ve taken the decision to cancel or postpone all our events until the end of June.

"This is in line with government advice and to help make sure we come through this difficult time as quickly as possible.

"For events after this date we will review the situation nearer the time.

"We will keep you up to date, every step of the way, as soon as we have any new information.

"We know how much you enjoy annual events like the dance festival, the carnival and our Easter extravaganza and how disappointed you will be.

"We are too, as we love planning them and bringing our town together.

"However, we also know how passionately you care about Darlington and never fail to be impressed by how the people of our borough come together to support each other at difficult times and do the right thing.

"Our events programme will be back, bigger and better than ever and we can’t wait to see as many of you as possible once it’s safe to do so.

"In the meantime Darlington, take care and be kind. We’re all in this together."

Meanwhile, the next stage of the local plan for Darlington could be delayed as a result of the pandemic.

The plan, which will guide long term development and growth for the town until 2036, was approved by councillors last month,

A further six-week consultation period was due to take place this spring but it could now be delayed.

A statement from the council’s planning policy department said it was unable to advise when the plan would be placed on deposit.

It said: “As you will appreciate we would not want to be in a position where people were unable to be involved.”

Anyone who would like to be notified when the plan is deposited should register by visiting www.darlington-consult.objective.co.uk/portal.