The local agricultural show - which was established in 1861 - has been formally cancelled due to coronavirus.

The Frome Agricultural and Cheese Show - due to happen in September - attracts up to 20 000 visitors each year and is one of the oldest and largest one-day shows in the country.

For many years, the Cheese Show carried such clout that all schools and factories in the town would shut their doors for Wednesday show day. This would always be followed by Frome Carnival on the Saturday, giving the town a fantastically festive week.

The event then moved to Saturdays and the society now runs it from 70 acres at Bunns Lane - but usually rents additional land for the on-show day parking. The cheese section of the show has also over recent years gone international, with the Global Cheese Awards trade show taking place on the Thursday prior to the Saturday show.

Show Manager Hannah George told Nub News: " We fortunately hadn't had any competition entries as we held off excepting them or selling any tickets.

"We have had to contact all our traders, sponsors and members to see if they would like to be refunded or would be happy to transfer to the 2021 show many of which we are pleased to say are happy to move to next years show and are looking forward to what we hope will be a bumper year."

The cancellation notice statement was as follows:

It is with deep sadness that we must inform you that the Board of Directors here at the Frome and District Agricultural Society have taken the difficult decision to cancel this years Frome Agricultural and Cheese Show due to the ongoing Coronavirus [Covid-19] pandemic.

We realise that show planned for Saturday 12th September 2020 is still some way off however we felt that due to the current social distancing rules it would be impossible to run our family friendly event as normal. Public safety and the well-being of all our volunteers, staff, competitors and visitors is and will always be our number one priority therefore cancelling was really the only option.

We look forward to working on making the 2021 show a really special day and welcoming you all then. We hope you and your families stay safe and well during this difficult time.

Regards the Frome Show team