Horse racing in the United Kingdom will go behind closed doors until the end of the month after the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) confirmed meets across England, Scotland and Wales will continue to go ahead without spectators.

A meeting on Monday of the Racecourse Association, The Horsemen’s Group and the BHA saw racecourses across Britain shut to the public from Tuesday, with Taunton and Wetherby set to be the first venues forced to close their doors after Kelso decided to trial the move on Monday.

The move comes after more than 150,000 racegoers attended last week’s Cheltenham Festival, which attracted widespread criticism despite organisers following government guidelines not to close their doors to the public.

A statement from the BHA read: “Racing industry leaders have confirmed a plan to continue racing behind closed doors from tomorrow. Any fixtures that take place in England, Wales and Scotland, initially until the end of March, will take place without spectators and with restrictions on the number of attendees.”

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