Loose Women will not air between Tuesday and Friday this week in a huge schedule shake-up by ITV.

The daytime show has been pulled back because of the Cheltenham Festival.

The horse racing festival gets underway on Tuesday, 15 March and will run for four days until Gold Cup day on Friday, 18 March.

ITV will be broadcasting the ‘greatest show on turf’ on each day of the festival with live coverage beginning at 12.40pm and running until 4:30pm.

Meaning the horse racing coverage will clash with ITV’s usual lunchtime slot between 12.30pm and 1.30pm.

ITV racing will be on ITV1 and STV daily from 12.40pm to 4.30pm and broadcast five live races a day.

The Opening Show will be on daily between 9am and 10am on ITV4.

Millions of pounds will change hands on each of the four days of the festival as punters try their luck to beat the bookies.

The festival is considered by many as the pinnacle of the National Hunt racing calendar in the UK as racing fans flock from all four corners with the prize money up for grabs second only to the Grand National.

The meeting will feature several Grade 1 races where the best race horses in the UK and Ireland will battle it out in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Queen Mother Champion Chase and more.