No-show soap star Ross's fans in a lather

Bio-chemist John Jones and a party of 22 friends travelled 50 miles from Liverpool to the Cicely Lane club on Friday.

They hoped to see actor Ross Kemp, who plays tough guy Grant in the top soap.

But when they arrived they were given printed cards stating that Grant was filming late. They found that he would be replaced by EastEnders' Tiffany, actress Martine McCutcheon, and Brookside characters Max Farnham, actor Steven Pinder, and Mick Johnson, actor Lewis Emerick.

John said: "We only came to see Grant. Grant was the name they used for their advertising campaign because they knew he would pull the people in. "There were a lot of disappointed people in Blackburn, who left in the queue when they heard Grant wasn't coming. We won't return to the club."

John added: "The club still advertised that Grant was appearing at the club on Rock FM all day Friday."

Peter Bowden, area manager for Northern Leisure, said the club discovered on Friday morning that Grant would not be appearing and failed to change the radio message because they spent the day frantically trying to find alternative stars and printing cards to explain the let-down to customers

He added: "Grant was filming late and working early the next day.

"There was no way I could get him to the club and back to the studios in time.

"This was not a stunt. Having other stars cost me in total £4,000 more than Grant!"

He added: "You wouldn't believe the trouble I went to to try and get Grant. The radio advertisement was the last thing on our mind."

He said the club had considered other ways to get the star to Blackburn, from flying him from Heathrow Airport, chartering a plane and pilot from Liverpool or getting a bodyguard to drive him from London.

Mr Bowden said Grant would appear at the club in October.

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