ANGRY music fans are still out of pocket following the cancellation of a troubled festival.

The would-be revellers haven’t had refunds for tickets for the Ringmaster Festival, which was cancelled less than two weeks before it was due to be held.

The festival was due to take place at Hopton Court, Hopton Wafers, Cleobury Mortimer, on Friday and Saturday, September 27-28, with a line-up including Maximo Park, Mystery Jets and Dry the River.

Organisers from the Malvern-based Holm House Events blamed an “unforeseen financial situation” for the cancellation, meaning they found themselves in a position where they could not guarantee payment to bands and other parties.

Tim Jauncey, aged 47, of Bransford, near Malvern, was among those told tickets would be refunded and all ticket holders should contact their ticket provider.

He paid £95.63 for two tickets and car parking via PayPal but says the online payment business is powerless as more than 45 days have passed since the original transaction.

Mr Jauncey said: “It could just be that they ran out of money and had to cancel the event to avoid further losses. There should have been refunds though, especially when they advertised that refunds would be given. “Only two weeks before the event was due to take place they were expanding the line-up and adding an extra day – so what has happened to all the money?”

A further six people have contacted your Worcester News with similar complaints. However, the only response from organiser Andrew Georgiou has been an automated e-mail.

The statement said: “Unf-ortunately Ringmaster has been cancelled. Please be patient whilst we make all necessary arrangements inc-luding refunds.”

The festival’s official presence on Twitter and Face-book has since disappeared and only the organiser’s statement remains on the event’s website.

Ringmaster had previously experienced problems with its original site on the Whitbourne Estate, near Worcester, with the festival being moved due to concerns over a deteriorating access road being unsafe for large volumes of traffic.

Following the change to the larger venue on the Shropshire-Worcestershire border, organisers said they would be adding an extra day with more acts.