Mancetter vicar: Our task force will help anyone in the community to fight effects of coronavirus

A task force is being built to give villagers "any help it needs" as the suspension of public worship following new measures to tackle coronavirus has given a Mancetter vicar the opportunity to take the church out into the community.

The Rev Linda Mudd is putting together a team of volunteers to take on household challenges for those caught up in the fallout from the Covid-19 outbreak.

The St Peter's Church priest is today holding her own Cobra-style meeting with parish wardens to decide on "how we can prepare to continue now public worship has been cancelled until further notice".

The team, which could be augmented by those being forced to work from home because of coronavirus restrictions, would help with shopping, meals, walking dogs, posting letters or "just to be at the end of a phone for anyone with a problem".

"Basically, it is any help, any member of the community needs," she added.

Her action plan comes as the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Justin Welby and John Sentamu, said it was "necessary to put public services on hold" for Anglican worshippers.

They added that church buildings may remain open for prayer "where practical" and as long as worshippers observe social distancing recommendations – while weddings and funerals could still go ahead.

The announcement comes after people were advised to stop all unnecessary social contact with Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicating it affected gatherings "large and small".

Those who are over 70, pregnant women and people with underlying health conditions are being told to be particularly stringent with the distancing measures.

The Rev Mudd; "As well as the announcement from the archbishops, we also had a directive from the diocese of Coventry on stopping public worship from today."

She held a service on Sunday with stringent measures, keeping worshippers apart but has now closed the church for worship. That means it will not be possible to visit the Roman Mancetter & Boudica Heritage Centre which opened last month inside St Peter's to critical acclaim, highlighting the strong possibility the village was the place where the Queen of the Iceans took on the Roman army in 60AD.

But the Rev Mudd hopes to carry on with the church's mission – "not in the building, but out in the community".

She also said that because people were no longer able to physically attend church, they might be missing prayer.

"Parishioners needn't worry as they can pray with me over the phone," she added.

The latest guidance on cornavirus can be seen here.

Worries over the spread of the virus have forced Atherstone firefighters, as part of the county's fire and rescue service, to call a halt to its community programme with school and home visits suspended until further notice.

On an virtually non-existent entertainments scene, Atherstone residents will have to get film fix from home movies on the TV as the Odeon cinemas in Nuneaton and Tamworth have closed along with Hinckley's Cineworld complex. Further afield, Glastonbury is among the major events facing an uncertain future.

On the sporting front, all horse racing in the UK will be suspended from tomorrow until the end of April; football's Euro 2020 tournament has been postponed until 2021; the International Olympic Committee is meeting later to discuss the summer games in Tokyo; The Masters at Augusta, traditionally regarded as the sport's blue riband event, became the first golf major to be postponed along with six European Tour tournaments.

Even the Beeb is feeling the impact of coronavirus . . . announcing plans to scale back some of its news services as it focuses on "core" output.

The broadcaster's director of news Fran Unsworth said that these are "unprecedented and difficult days".

The BBC News Channel will replace some scheduled programmes on BBC Two, including Politics Live and Victoria Derbyshire.

The Andrew Neil Show, Newswatch, The Travel Show and Hardtalk are being suspended.

Newsnight and The Andrew Marr Show will remain on air, however, but operated by fewer technical staff.

The UK has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus deaths – up 14 to 71 with confirmed cases closing in on the 2,000 mark (1,950).

Europe's peaking nation in coronavirus terms – Italy – today topped a tragic milestone of 2,500 deaths in 31,506 confirmed cases. Spain has 11,748 Covid-19 cases with 533 deaths with up to 175 mortalities with 7,730 of its population testing positive for the virus.