Horse racing will resume in Britain on Wednesday following a six-day shutdown caused by an outbreak of equine influenza.

The British Horseracing Authority had placed more than 170 yards into lockdown in an attempt to halt the spread of the highly-contagious virus, with all meetings last Thursday cancelled the previous night.

However, following a period of extensive testing and after seeking the advice of a series of veterinary experts, the ruling body gave the go-ahead for a resumption late on Monday - but with strict biosecurity controls in place.

Scheduled fixtures at Musselburgh on Wednesday will therefore take place.

The BHA's chief regulatory officer Brant Dunshea said: "Our approach since hearing about the first positive results last Wednesday has been based on accumulating as much information as we could as quickly as possible so we could properly understand the risks of this virulent strain of flu spreading to more horses.

"That would be harmful to them and damaging to any trainers' yards that became infected.

"It has also been our intention to ensure that we avoid an issue that could result in a long-term disruption to racing with the risk of many of our major events being unduly impacted."