PITSEA carnival has found its new court...but has had to cancel this year's event.

The carnival and festival was due to take place on July 25, but due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic it will not go ahead.

Stuart Terson, chairman of Basildon and Pitsea Carnival Association, said: "With all the uncertainly around at the minute we have decided this now so we can start planning for next year.

"We feel it is unfair on our sponsors to be paying out money when most firms are struggling.

"The groups that take part are not meeting, and we ourselves can't get a lot of the work done.

"We would like to thank all our stallholders/entries for being so understanding at this time. We will be back next year on Saturday 24th July 2021."

A decision has not been made to continue with Basildon's first ever soapbox derby on July 18.