A SERIES of concerts at a Suffolk church featuring top stars has had to be cancelled due to lack of support to the disappointment of customers.

Concerts in Churches was dubbed a unique event which was an opportunity for audiences nationwide to appreciate a more intimate concert experience.

But those who have purchased tickets to hear leading jazz saxophonist Courtney Pine on November 3 or popular opera singer Alfie Boe on November 20, both at St Mary’s Church in Bury St Edmunds, are now being refunded.

One customer, who only found out by chance that his concert had been cancelled, is concerned ticket-holders are not being told early enough.

Tim Messinger, a director of Kevin Mayhew Publishers, which runs the concerts, said he wanted to apologise for the cancellations, adding how every effort was being made to inform customers.

He said not enough people were buying tickets. “It’s very, very disappointing. This is the third year we have done the series.”

Mr Messinger said the firm, a national Church and music publisher, had been making huge losses on the national concerts – �100,000 in 2005 – and had hoped to break even this year. It is now unlikely they will be staged again. He added how he was “very appreciative” to people who had supported the series.

Tom Woollard, of Livermere Road, Great Barton, booked tickets in April for Alfie Boe in Bury, but only found out on Monday it had been cancelled. Mr Messinger said he should have been contacted sooner.