White Stripes cancel festival date

Jack White injured his hand in a car accident

The White Stripes have pulled out of this year's Leeds Festival which takes place over the August bank holiday weekend.

Brother and sister Jack and Meg White were due to play at the Bramham Park event on the Sunday evening.

But organisers Mean Fiddler say a hand injury sustained by Jack White in a car accident in his home city of Detroit on 9 July has still not healed.

The injury has already forced the duo to cancel festival appearances in Scotland and Ireland.

Venue switch

Mean Fiddler say they hope The White Stripes will be able to appear at next year's Leeds Festival.

Meanwhile, the switch of venue from Temple Newsam to Bramham Park is continuing to cause disquiet among some local residents.

At a public meeting in Thorner, which is about two miles from the festival site, representatives from West Yorkshire Police faced strong questioning about how traffic chaos in the area is to be avoided.

Buses carrying festival goers from the centre of Leeds will pass through Thorner as will buses taking people from the festival site to the Tesco supermarket at Seacroft.

Continued opposition

The public meeting, which was attended by about 150 residents, also voted overwhelmingly to urge Thorner Parish Council to continue to refuse have any discussions with Mean Fiddler.

One parish councillor, Terry Smith, said he thought the council had a duty to discuss festival arrangements with Mean Fiddler.

But others argued that this would weaken the village's continued opposition to holding the festival at Bramham Park.

Bands still scheduled to appear at the festival include Blur, Metallica and Blink 182.