THOUSANDS of people who bought tickets for a cancelled charity concert were today left wondering if they will ever see their money again after the company behind it went into voluntary liquidation.

By Jo Macdonald

THOUSANDS of people who bought tickets for a cancelled charity concert were today left wondering if they will ever see their money again after the company behind it went into voluntary liquidation.

Reachout 2002 was axed because of slow ticket sales just days before the concert at the Norfolk Showground was due to take place on September 8.

It was being held in aid of East Anglian Childrens Hospice and was being widely promoted in and around Ipswich.

More than 6,500 tickets priced at £22 each had already been snapped up by families from Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire eager to see chart-toppers including boy band Blue and Liberty X in action.

But today it emerged the event organisers' parent company, Bison Marketing, had been placed into liquidation after its insurance claim for costs incurred by the last minute cancellation of the concert failed.

Bison still owes more than £140,000 to people who bought tickets to the show but in letters sent out by Bison to ticket holders, no mention is made of when, or even if, they will get their cash refunded.

The company also leaves no contact telephone number on the letter and says their offices are now closed, leaving people seeking a refund with no way to reach them. Bison has also closed all of its internet websites.

Bison Marketing director Len Wells promised that "mechanisms were in place" to provide refunds and in a letter sent to families immediately after the cancellation, Bison said they were re-scheduling the concert for next spring and would be upgrading ticket holders to VIP status as "a goodwill gesture".

But the company's liquidation now makes it unlikely that any other concert will ever take place.