Royston’s district museum has suspended all activities, events and regular groups until further notice – amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The museum and art gallery in Lower King Street made the announcement yesterday, the day after limiting its interactive exhibits.

In a statement on their Facebook page, museum manager and curator Madeline Odent said: 'We've made the difficult decision to suspend all of our activities, events, and regular groups until further notice.

'We want to assure our community that this is only a preventative measure.

'We know that many of our visitors and volunteers may be more vulnerable to Covid-19, and we are taking this step as an extra precaution.

'Our primary concern is that any large gathering of people presents a higher risk of contagion.

'We will remain open, but we are prepared to close if the government or the town council recommend we do so.

'However, our Knit & Natter groups, our dance classes, and all children's activities will be suspended until the risk is reduced.

'Regretfully, we have also decided, in conjunction with the Royston Cave, to postpone the opening of the Cave Experience. We want to give the exhibit the grand opening that it deserves, and we cannot safely do so right now. We look forward to sharing a new date with you in due course.

'If you planned to attend our Mother's Day craft activity on Saturday, March 14, please do drop by the Museum - we'll have some little activities that your children can take away to do at home!'

The closure comes after Thriplow Daffodil Weekend and Cambridge Science Festival was cancelled.

The COVID-19 outbreak has now led to UK chief medical officers raising the risk to the UK from moderate to high.

The government is asking anyone who shows symptoms including developing a cough or fever, to self-isolate for seven days, regardless of whether they have travelled to affected areas in order to slow the spread of infection.

In the coming weeks, further social distancing measures for older and vulnerable people are set to come into effect.

For the latest, search 'coronavirus' on gov.uk.