Bloc Weekend in administration and refunds not certain

Investigations are continuing into what led to dangerous overcrowding at the electronic music festival at the new London Pleasure Gardens venue. It which was closed by police in the early hours of 7 July, just before headliner Snoop Dogg took to the stage.

Jamie Playford, the appointed administrator for Baselogic Productions at Parker Andrews, said it was too early to say whether fans would be refunded for ticket purchases.

Bloc said in a statement on its website yesterday: "It is with great sadness that we announce Baselogic Productions (who you all know as Bloc) has been placed into administration following the events of Friday evening.

"The team are working hard with the administrators to investigate the issues that led to the closure of the event and people will be updated as and when we have new information. We ask that you allow the administrators time to conduct a thorough investigation so we can establish the facts.

"Once again we would like to apologise for all of the frustration and disappointment this situation has caused and thank everyone who has supported the team over the years, your continued support means so much to us."

Bloc's ticketing provider Crowdsurge claims it was told to stop scanning tickets on the doors of the festival with no explanation, hours before the event was closed down. It said it had sold 15,796 tickets for the first night, a figure under the 18,000 capacity calculated by Baselogic.

London Pleasure Gardens said: "It is with great sadness that we receive the news that the organisers of Bloc, Baselogic, have entered administration, and we note that Crowdsurge have released a statement around the issue. However, it would be irresponsible for us to issue any full and transparent statement before our complex investigation is complete.

"We take on responsibility of diligently investigating the events on Friday and issuing a full statement when we’re in a position to do so. Forthcoming events at London Pleasure Gardens will not be making use of the Crowdsurge ticketing system."

Bloc Weekend was in its sixth year and was previously held at regional holiday resorts like Pontins. Aphex Twin and Magnetic Man were among the acts to play last year at Butlins in Minehead in Somerset.

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