Sporting events, concerts and other “mass gatherings” will be cancelled from next week after Boris Johnson performed an about-turn over the Government’s handling of coronavirus.

The Prime Minister decided to ban major events just 24 hours after insisting he would not be following Scotland’s lead in outlawing crowds of more than 500 people.

It came after the Premier League had taken matters into its own hands by announcing the suspension of the football season until next month and the London Marathon was postponed until October by its organisers.

As the number of confirmed UK coronavirus cases leapt from 590 to 798, Whitehall sources admitted the situation was now “accelerating very quickly”, prompting Mr Johnson’s change of heart over a crowd ban.

It means iconic events such as Wimbledon, Glastonbury Festival, Royal Ascot, the Grand National and the Boat Race could all be axed, while new laws will allow the Government to pay out compensation.