Thousands of tickets to be refunded as the Spanish tenor pulls out of his farewell to London concert

High winds and days of unseasonal rain forced the cancellation of the final Kenwood Concert on Sunday.

Safety officers advised that Jose Carreras' planned farewell to London should not go ahead after the ground became a quagmire.

Royal Wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was also due to perform.

The move by Kenwood concert organisers Giles Cooper Entertainment came after a successful Friday night gig by Mormon YouTube stars The Piano Guys and a barnstorming 40th anniversary North London homecoming from Madness on Saturday.

But the combination of a week's worth of bad weather and thousands of Nutty Boys fans on Hampstead Heath, made conditions on site dangerous.

The 72-year-old, who with Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo was one of the world famous Three Tenors, said: "I am so very disappointed that this evening's concert at Kenwood House has been cancelled.

"On the promotors advice and their safety officials I cannot possibly risk the safety of my dear audience. I am very disappointed, and I hope to come back to the UK very soon!"

GCE pledged that all ticketholders would recieve a full refund a their point of purchase.

"We regret to announce that in the interest of customer safety we have had to take the decision to cancel the event.

"The safety of our audience, performers and staff is of utmost priority. High winds conditions and poor ground conditions due to torrential rain over the past week forced us to take the advice of our safety officers."

Contact numbers for ticketholders are: Ticketmaster - 0333 321 9999 Ticketline - 0161 813 2222 and AXS - 08448 24 4824