The Who have cancelled their UK and Ireland tour.

The rock legends were due to play 10 dates next month but have scrapped their plans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend said: "We are very sorry we have to cancel our planned March 2021 UK and Ireland shows.

"Please excuse the delay but we wanted to wait as long as possible to see if we could indeed play them. However, as you can see the current situation makes this impossible.

"Thanks for all you wonderful support and we hope to see you in the future when conditions allow."

The 'My Generation' band had already postponed the original tour from March 2020 as COVID-19 forced hundreds of artists to cancel their shows.

At the time, frontman Roger promised that the gigs would "definitely happen".

The 76-year-old musician said: "[The shows will] definitely happen and it may be the last time we do a tour of this type, so keep those tickets, as the shows will be fantastic."

Pete had previously stated that The Who would not be performing streaming shows during the pandemic like some of their peers.

The 75-year-old guitarist said: "The idea of doing an online concert really suits musicians who are very independent. It doesn't suit old rock 'n' roll elitists like me.

"I don't think I have tuned my own guitar to go on stage for many years."