A delay to this year's Royal Welsh Show was not a viable option, the boss of event's organisers has said.

Steve Hughson, chief executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, said the society is closely monitoring the situation around the coronavirus outbreak in order to protect its long-term financial and operation future.

And while cancelling this year's event – one of the biggest in Britain's agricultural calendar – was expensive, simply delaying would not have been viable either.

“The reality is we’ve got no income this year from the show or festival and no income coming from other events on the site," Mr Hughson said.

“Whilst at the same time we’ll have to spend money to protect the site, to maintain the site and, of course, support our staff.

“We’re also relying on the support of our much-valued membership and we are focussed, like them, on protecting the long-term viability of the society and, of course, our events."

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society announced on March 23, that it had “no other option” but to cancel the 2020 Royal Welsh Show to stop the spread of the virus.

The chief executive also revealed earlier this week that the society had considered postponing the Royal Welsh Show and the Smallholding and Countryside Festival until later in the year or hosting a scaled-down event.

“But these are not really viable for such an iconic event,” Mr Hughson said.

Despite receiving negative comments about the decision, Mr Hughson has thanked those who sent messages of support.

“Our focus is now to do all that we can and to cancel all the arrangements already made and to support our stakeholders through this period which we also recognise will be difficult for each of them.”

He added: “We must all continue to look forward to better times when we can all gather once again on the showground in Builth Wells. And lastly, and most importantly, please keep safe.”