'Lapland event' refunds tickets

Organisers blamed bad publicity and poor ticket sales

People who paid £25 each to get into a cancelled Lapland-style attraction have been given their money back.

Lapland West Midlands, near Essington, Staffordshire, was called off following safety concerns from Trading Standards officials.

A few days previously, a similar event in the New Forest was shut down after criticisms from visitors.

The organisers of the West Midlands event blamed bad publicity and poor ticket sales for the cancellation.

More than 40 people paid more than £3,000 online to buy tickets to the event.

The fantastic ice rink turned out to be plyboard painted white Carol Dean, Staffordshire County Council

Its website had promised "an enchanting experience" with huskies, reindeer and an ice show and was not connected with the New Forest event.

But trading standards officials said they were concerned about the event as advertised on its website.

The county council said reindeer could only be moved onto the site by holders of special permits and it was not aware organisers had obtained one.

Trading standards officers contacted the internet payment processing site to freeze the money that had been received and asked it to stop accepting further payments.

Carol Dean, the county council's trading standards cabinet member, said: "We became satisfied that this event was never going to deliver what customers were being promised.

"We gathered enough information to present to the internet payment processor and ask them to stop processing payment.

"Once that was done the organisers pulled-the-plug on the event the morning it was due to open."

'Lovely weekend'

She explained that what officers found at the site confirmed their "worst suspicions".

"There was very little there and what there was was a joke - the fantastic ice rink turned out to be plyboard painted white," she said.

"Our priority then became to ensure people received their money back and I am delighted to be able to confirm today that this has now happened."

When the event was cancelled, organiser Steven Jennings said his company had spent £40,000 on it and employed 25 contracted staff.

He apologised to ticketholders and said it would have been a "lovely weekend".

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Footage from the Lapland West Midland site