ITV is reportedly on the verge of announcing that Britain's Got Talent will not go ahead this year due to coronavirus.

Last year the emergence of the pandemic meant that the show had to take a break of three months before returning in September for the semi-finals and finals.

Filming of the auditions for this year's series was due to take place earlier this month in London, but was pushed back as England entered a new full-scale lockdown.

Now production company Syco has conceded that staging the show this year is unlikely to be possible, according to The Mirror, and as a result BGT may be off air until 2022.

"The nature of Britain's Got Talent means we have all sorts of contestants from all sorts of places – home and abroad - taking part," a source told the newspaper.

"While many people will have been vaccinated by the summer it remains unclear what the restrictions on mass mingling and on travel will be, so there are absolutely no guarantees production can go ahead.

"The chances of it airing this year range from extremely slim to non-existent - and it's almost certain to be the latter. No one's happy about it – but that's the way it is."

ITV has yet to comment on the report.