Anger over Doncaster Racecourse's handling of Rudimental cancelled show

Drum and bass band Rudimental were due to play for several thousand fans at Town Moor after a race day on Saturday, July 1.

The chart-topping act were themselves a late replacement for Mark Ronson – but just moments before they were due on stage an announcement said the show was cancelled.

The Racecourse later put a statement out explaining that the show was axed due to “illness” but the band sent out a tweet which indicated that they were actually stuck in an airport in the Ukraine.

Angry fans have now hit out at Racecourse bosses and accused them of showing contempt towards customers for not revealing the true reasons behind the cancellation. However, venue chiefs insisted they were told a band member was ill.

Fan Simon Sheppard said he was "outraged" and added: "I believe we all are aware that Rudemental were not even in the country at the time the gig was supposed to start so to maintain the 'illness' line shows nothing more than contempt to the paying thousands."

A number of other fans vented their frustration on Facebook.

Nigel Evans said: “What a shambles."

Joanne McBride added: “We were gutted to miss Rudimental - should get a refund.”

The Racecourse had said on Facebook and Twitter: "Unfortunately due to illness we have been informed in the last hour that Rudimental cannot perform this evening.”

But it later emerged the same weekend the band were due at the racecourse, they were also listed to appear at the Atlas Weekend festival in the Ukraine.

And several hours after their scheduled performance in Doncaster, Rudimental tweeted: "@British_Airways this is a shambles! Stuck in Ukraine, due to an overbooked flight!"

Singer-songwriter Tom Zanetti performed in their place. Mark Ronson had earlier cancelled his appearance to 'take some time out from performing'.

The band later apologies to fans in Doncaster and pledged to "come back soon."

Tim Banfield, executive director of Doncaster Racecourse, apologised and added: "The team were informed that Piers Agget from Rudimental had taken ill just an hour before the live performance."

He added: "We would like to assure our customers we did everything in our power to rectify the situation.

"We have been dealing directly with ticket bookers individually who felt let down by the events on Saturday and would reassure our customers that their concerns are being listened to and appropriate action taken."