A Polish mayor has banned this year's pilgrimage to the tomb of one of Chasidic Judaism's founding rabbis because of the coronavirus.

The yahrzeit (death anniversary) of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, which this year occurs next Tuesday, usually attracts thousands of Strictly Orthodox visitors to the modern-day town of Leżajsk in southeast Poland.

Chasidic communities in the UK have chartered flights in previous years to make the pilgrimage and some organisers had been expecting up to 30,000 visitors this year.

But the Polish news website Kresy.pl reported on Wednesday that Leżajsk mayor Ireneusz Stefański banned this year's event after a case of coronavirus was confirmed in the city.

Hotels in the area have also cancelled group reservations made by Chasidic groups.

March 17 will be the 233rd anniversary of the death of Rabbi Elimelech, who died in 1787.