FANS of a rock band were left fuming after a Blackburn gig was abandoned over safety fears.

Indie band The Vaccines were performing at King George’s Hall on Monday night but the concert ended early after problems with 'cracked' safety barriers.

The London band tweeted to their followers that they were feeling ‘angry and empty’ about the decision.

Lancashire Telegraph:

On their official Twitter page they said: “The decision to stop the show was not ours, but the safety barrier in the venue kept collapsing and if we had continued people would undoubtedly have been seriously injured."

They added that ticket holders should keep hold of their tickets and ‘we will reschedule the show and finish what we started together ASAP.’

One of the fans at the gig said she was ‘heartbroken and tired after travelling to the gig.

She added: “Everyone was confused because there didn’t seem to be an issue from where we were. The decision seemed a bit over the top to cancel it.”

Beth Reece tweeted: “Devastated @thevaccines cancelled halfway through for health and safety reasons #kinggeorgeshall"

Lauren Eva tweeted: “Gutted The Vaccines’ gig in Blackburn was cut short by poor safety/security at the venue. Was obviously the right decision to stop anyone being seriously physically hurt, but it makes me sad to hear the state some arts venues are in where things like this happen.”

Top rock band The Kaiser Chiefs are due to be performing at the council-run venue tomorrow evening and council chiefs insist that it will go ahead as planned.

Martin Eden, council operations boss, said: “Security staff spotted a crack in the security barrier, which had been hired in for the Vaccines’ concert, 20 minutes before the end of the gig.

“We had a technician from the company on site who worked to try to repair the damage but a decision was taken in the interests of health and safety to stop the concert early at 10.10pm - it was due to finish at 10.30pm.

“We would like to thank the 2,000 people who attended the concert for their patience and co-operation and understand it was very disappointing to end the show early.

“We apologise to all concert goers for the inconvenience this caused but we have to ensure the safety of all people attending events comes first.

“We are working with the hire company to investigate and will provide a further update as soon as we have more information.”