Simon Weston dinner axed over low ticket sales

Falklands War hero Simon Weston was intended to be guest speaker at the event at St Annes Palace in June.

But after just 12 tickets were sold, the decision was taken to cancel the dinner two months in advance to avoid cancellation charges increasing further.

Organisers’ spokesman John Burgess said: “Despite extensive publicity and substantial initial interest, ticket sales did not materialise as expected.

“With only 12 tickets having been sold, we had to consider event cancellation charges.

“The charges within the contract at the point when we cancelled 60 days before the event date were punitive and beyond that would have required a full payment.

“It was against this background that we had no option but to cancel for lack of interest.”

Just Good Friends founder Bev Sykes said: “It is disappointing but we hope to arrange other similar events soon.”