ITV has confirmed that next year's National Television Awards have been pushed back by three months as a knock-on effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ceremony normally takes place in January every year and is viewed as the people's TV awards, with the winners of the vast majority of the categories decided by the British public.

As a result of the ongoing uncertainty of COVID-19, however, organisers could not guarantee that the ceremony - held at the 20,000-seater O2 Arena in London - will be able to proceed safely in January.

A statement read: "The National Television Awards has today announced that the 2021 NTAs has been rescheduled to Tuesday 20th April 2021 and tickets will be honoured for the new date.

"Information about new NTA voting categories being launched in 2021 and the first round of voting will be released this Autumn."

The NTAs are known as a fertile hunting ground for Ant & Dec, who have won the 'Best Entertainment Presenter' award for 19 years in a row.