CAMBORNE'S annual Trevithick Day has been cancelled next month.

The celebration of steam has become the latest victim of the coronavirus outbreak, which has caused widespread cancellations and postponements of events which will attract mass gatherings.

A statement said: "The Trevithick Day committe met on Friday evening and took the tough decision to cancel this Trevithick Day Festival, due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

"Having held a restricted event in 2019 at short notice, due to the weather, we wanted to provide certainty as early as we could.

The statement adds that the decision was not taken lightly but the "health, safety and wellbeing" of all those involved is of paramount importance.

It adds: "The government has stated that the coronavirus outbreak will get worse and at there is a risk that at some stage they will ban large-scale events.

"The committee feels that a such ban at short notice would mean us incurring substantial losses that may jeopardise future events. By cancelling now we limit those losses."

The statement says that the committee considered postponing until a future date, but there is no way of telling when the outbreak will be over.

It said that work has already begun on the 2021 event, which will be the 250th anniversary of Richard Trevithick's birth.