Police probe into ticket mess for cancelled gigs at venues including Wicksteed Park ends with no prosecution

Police say there is not enough evidence to prosecute anybody over a ticket mess for cancelled gigs at venues including Wicksteed Park.

Thousands of people forked out to see top comedy and music acts at the Kettering venue only for the two firms involved in the shows – Coventry-based M&B Promotions Ltd and Simple Ticketing Ltd – to go bust.

Many ticket-holders fought to get a refund and West Midlands Police launched a probe after allegations of ticket fraud, with officers interviewing a woman. But their investigation has now ended without anybody being charged.

A force spokesman said: “After a thorough investigation insufficient evidence was found to proceed with a prosecution and therefore the case has been filed.”

Wicksteed Park was not responsible for the gig cancellations, did not receive any money from the bookings and were not investigated by the police.

Demand for tickets to a huge 2021 comedy event there, featuring John Bishop, Al Murray and hometown hero James Acaster, was so high that the ticketing website crashed. The same happened when a Craig David gig was announced.

But the comedy event was postponed, with organisers saying Covid-specific cancellation insurance for live events was not backed by the Government. Then the music events, which were due to take place after Covid restrictions had lifted, were also postponed. Tickets were rolled over to 2022 but many people were angry because they were unable to get a refund.

Big-name comics then pulled out of M&B’s gigs around the country, saying they did not agree with the policy on withholding refunds. We then revealed that James Acaster was already booked for another project on the date of the rescheduled Kettering event, leaving just one of the six comedians from the original line-up still on the bill. Ticket-holders were not told.

In January 2022 furious people said their demands for a refund were being ignored. Weeks later the promoters and ticket-sellers, which had traded as Easy Ticketing, ceased operations and all of their planned gigs were cancelled.

Those who had bought tickets were told to either contact PayPal or their bank/card provider to get their money back. They initially had their requests rejected because they had been ‘timed out’ from a refund before Paypal said they would accept claims made after the 180-day deadline, but many did not get their money back.

Barton Seagrave woman Caroline Stephenson paid £247.50 via PayPal for five tickets to the comedy gig. When it was cancelled she assumed she would get a refund – but her claim was rejected.

Caroline, 50, said: "It’s a lot of money to lose and it’s just so frustrating.

"Some people got their money back and some didn’t – I don’t hold out any hope now.”

M&B Promotions and Simple Ticketing officially went into liquidation in April and documents revealed that, combined, they owed millions of pounds.

In July a notice of final accounts as part of the winding up was uploaded to the Companies House listings for both companies, which had no cash left for creditors.

Simple Ticketing’s largest creditor was PayPal who were believed to be owed just over £3.4m relating to refunds it ought to have processed to customers. The notice of final accounts said PayPal was owed just over £1.75m from the firm and was ‘refusing to pay any further refunds to customers’.

In the Companies House document liquidator Philip Ballard said an investigation into the firms’ financial affairs and the conduct of directors was carried out. He said that ‘further investigations or actions were identified as being necessary’ but that ‘no potential recoveries were identified’.

He said: "I confirm that a detailed review of the flow of funds has been undertaken and there is no evidence of wrongdoing in respect of the company or its directors.”