Manchester's St Patrick's Day parade WILL go ahead but all other festival events have been cancelled.

The decision to push ahead with the procession despite coronavirus concerns was made at a meeting between council and event leaders this morning.

The announcement comes after the cancellation of similar events in London and Dublin.

Sinead Flanagan, parade and festival organiser, told the M.E.N: "The Manchester Irish Parade will go ahead tomorrow after taking soundings from the Irish community.

"We will be following the Department of Health and Social Care's strict guidelines.  Everyone on the parade will be advised about health and safety.

"We are still taking the advice of the Chief Medical Officer that is not prohibiting events, as we can see with the Manchester Arena, rugby league and horse racing as examples.

"The Government U-turn on mass gatherings is to prevent pressure on the police and public services - we have no police present on the Manchester parade.

"However all festival events will be cancelled after the parade, including those on St Patrick's Day."

The St Patrick's Day Parade, celebrating the Irish community, in Manchester city centre

Cancelled events include those at the festival hub at Upper Campfield Market Hall off Liverpool Road.

Organisers had earlier faced growing pressure to cancel the full event due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bill Baggins tweeted: "Here in Manchester, we're still having a big St Patrick's Day parade at the weekend, despite Dublin and New York cancelling theirs. Many Mancunians are not impressed."

While Sam White posted: ".  @AndyBurnhamGM  Please consider cancelling Manchester’s St Patrick’s Day parade in light of COVID-19. Absolutely no point in putting people at risk."

Manchester's parade sets off from the Irish World Heritage Centre just off Queen's Road, Cheetham Hill, at  12 noon  on Sunday.

The decision comes as mass gatherings in Britain could be stopped from next week, according to reports.

A Whitehall source has been widely quoted saying there were concerns about “the burden large events put on public services - including the health service and the police”.

“Officials are working with industry bodies to identify how to support businesses that will be affected by this decision,” the source said.

“We have drafted emergency legislation to give the Government the powers it needs to deal with coronavirus, including powers to stop mass gatherings and compensate organisations.

“We will publish this legislation next week.”