Shaun Ryder drops Shropshire for I'm a Celebrity...

A big music festival due to be held in Shropshire has been scrapped after the lead singer of one of the headline acts ditched the event to appear in TV's I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!

Hundreds of revellers are now being handed out refunds for The Conspiracy Festival, which was due to feature the Happy Mondays on November 20 and 21 at the Berwick Road showground in Shrewsbury.

Jason George, festival promoter, today said he had been left "massively disappointed" after learning that Shaun Ryder, lead singer of the band, was jetting out to Australia to take part in the ITV1's reality show, which starts on Sunday.

Mr George said he had now been left £6,000 out of pocket because of the promotion and administration work already carried out.

In a statement on the Conspiracy Festival website, Paul Fletcher, the booking agent for Happy Mondays, said Mr Ryder had offered his "sincere personal apologies".

Mr George said the event had been pl-agued with bad luck after the initial venue, The Severn Cellars closed last month.