Ticket holders are unlikely to be refunded for cancelled show unless they paid by credit card, the administrator has warned.

More than £100,000 of tickets have been bought for shows which may never run – but the money has been used to pay the operating costs of the struggling venue.

Beverley Budsworth, of the Business Debt Advisor, said ticket holders were among many unsecured creditors who had no guarantee of a return on their money.

She told Blog Preston: “There is no fund of money that is available to refund people money.

“If gigs are cancelled, the only thing people can do is to try and claim through their credit card or ticket provider.

“They can lodge a claim as an unsecured creditor but there are significant claims in Preston Guild Hall.

“When Preston Guild Hall went into administration there was upwards of £100,000 in advanced ticket sales – but that money had already been spent trading.

“All ticket holders are unsecured creditors, but they are unlikely to get a pay out.”

Read more: Preston Guild Hall’s rebirth through to slow implosion under Simon Rigby – a timeline of events

Preston City Council is in talks to try and secure a new operator for the venue after it took back control of the Guild Hall during June, but it is not known whether any future operator will honour ticket sales.

For information about how to lodge a claim against Preston Guild Hall, visit the Business Debt Advisor website.

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