March 30, 2001 17:05

RE-REFUND AND THE CROWD SAY, 'THERE'S NO SELECTA!'

Pete Devereux fails to appear at a charity gig after his records are lost on a plane...

A youth charity in Gloucestershire is calling on garage act ARTFUL DODGER to pay £1,000 or perform a fundraising show for free to make up for one cancelled at the eleventh hour at the weekend.

Pete Devereux, one half of the pair, along with Mark Hill, was due to play a DJ set at Gloucester Guildhall on Sunday (March 25) in a fundraiser for a local charity, Young Gloucestershire, devoted to recruiting young volunteers to help their local community. Devereux blames the temporary loss of his records by his airline on a flight returning from Switzerland earlier the same day, preventing him from being able to appear.

"His tour manager rang around 5.30pm, about two hours before he was due to play," Alicia Harris, a project worker for Young Gloucestershire told NME.COM. "He told us Artful Dodger was 'pissed off' about his missing luggage and didn't want to play. We had sold almost 300 tickets and they have all had to be refunded meaning local charities miss out on £1,000."

Harris said her organisation had approached Devereux to ask if he would make a £1,000 donation or play another show for free or even a reduced rate. She says their approaches have so far yielded no result.

However, a spokesperson for Artful Dodger said the events were outside of the DJ's hands.

"BA lost all the records. It was just impossible to play. Of course he'd consider doing a gig. He's really truly sorry. But I think demanding the money is a bit much," she told NME.COM.