Shrewsbury Prosecco and Balls event cancelled for second time

Hundreds of people purchased tickets for the Prosecco and Balls night at the Buttermarket in Shrewsbury, which was originally scheduled for November 18 and then later put back to March 3.

But in a statement, organisers Prime Live Group Ltd, said it has now been forced to cancel all future dates because of online posts claiming the company was fraudulent.

Merseyside Police are investigating the claims.

Grant Lees, owner of the Buttermarket, said he would look to host a similar event to make it up to all the people who purchased tickets.

"The event really did spark a lot of interest and everyone seemed to be really excited," he said.

"It might be something we look to present ourself next year because we would really like to give something back to those who have lost out. I know there's a lot of people locally who purchased tickets, so watch this space."

Mr Lees also said he sympathised with the organisers, who have hosted successful events at the Buttermarket before.

The Liverpool-based organisers apologised in a post on their Facebook site and blamed the cancellations on a "hate group".

They said thousands of pounds had been invested in the events and they are now selling assets to recover money and to pay back customers.

The statement added: "We are in the midst of the legal process for this immediately and will look to refund everybody to the best of our abilities. It was never our intention to not run these events. We simply wanted to run some events packed with content and fun activities."

Tickets for the events were priced at £14 and would see huge, adult-sized ball pits taken into clubs, with prosecco on sale throughout the night.