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A Pro-Brexit pop concert has been cancelled, with organisers blame heavy handed scrutiny from the Electoral Commission.

But they admitted they probably did break the rules in spending thousands of pounds organising the lavish pop extravaganza in the closing days of the campaign.

BPop Live was due to take place on Sunday at Birmingham's NEC.

Organisers say the event faced unfair scrutiny for being linked to campaign group Leave.EU, and that they'd been threatened with criminal charges if they didn't "jump through hoops" and "fill in forms in triplicate."

It's understood the Electoral Commission had Suspicious Minds that the concert would break spending limits for independent campaign groups.

Over spending in a referendum campaign is a criminal offence.

(Image: SWNS)

BPop Live was to be funded by Leave.EU backer Arron Banks, but their press spokesman insisted it was a privately funded event and not a Leave.EU event.

BPop live's press spokesman is also Leave.EU's press spokesman.

He told the Mirror: "I suppose if you look at the letter of the rules, we probably did break the rules."

He claimed some 8,000 tickets had been sold for the event. It's unclear whether these tickets were sold before or after the price of the tickets was slashed from £23 to £5, yesterday.

He said: "We're pissed off, in capital letters" but that it was "part of the collateral damage of war."

In a statement, Arron Banks said he was "truly disgusted" by the Electoral Commission's actions.

(Image: PA)

A spokesperson for the electoral commission said: “The Commission has not requested or suggested that the event cannot or should not take place.

"As part of the Commission’s monitoring we identified an event that had it proceeded would need to comply with the rules on referendum campaign spending.

"As we would in any such matter, we contacted the event organisers regarding the costs and administration of the event and have been awaiting a response to outstanding queries on this.

"It is important that the campaign spending rules are followed properly”

A spokesperson for Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign said: "The ticket holder will be gutted."

The concert will be postponed until September, and all tickets will remain valid, or can be returned for a refund.

The rescheduled concert will be held in aid of Mr Banks' charity, Love Saves the Day.

BPop Live was set to feature speeches from Nigel Farage and Tory MP Liam Fox.

The thrilling climax of the concert was to be a full orchestra performing Land of Hope and Glory, as an Elvis impersonator and three quarters of Bucks Fizz sang along.

The list of artists who have pulled out of the troubled event is as lengthy as it is illustrious.

A string of artists cancelled when they learned it was a political rally.

90's Boyband 5ive, Alesha Dixon , East 17 and Sister Sledge have all previously been on the line-up, but pulled out after being told more about the show.

Who was set to play at the concert?

Cheryl, Mike, Jay, Formerly of Bucks Fizz, with Bobby McVay

(Image: Matt Sprake / MSP)

Yes, Bucks Fizz, most famous for Making Your Mind Up and The Land Of Make Believe.

In Fact, this concert was set to be part of their Land of Make Believe Tour, which the night before the doomed Brexit concert will visit Butlins in Bognor Regis.

Bucks Fizz shot to fame when they won the Eurovision Song Contest.

But we need to be very careful about how we describe this act. They are not the official Bucks Fizz, despite including three of the original line-up.

Bobby G, the fourth original member owns the name, and performs under that banner with his wife.

The group has feuded over ownership of the name for decades, with the dispute even making it to the High Court.

And we checked, by the way, the judge's ruling did not rely on any EU or European Court of Justice rulings.

You can read more on the saga of Bucks Fizz here.

Gordon Hendricks as Elvis Presley

Gordon Hendricks has been named the world's best Elvis impersonator.

By day he's a hairdresser from Stoke on Trent.

Elvis Presley famously recorded I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone and Return to Sender.

One of the Drifters

Alexander O'Neal

(Image: Redferns)

On the event's website his name was, and remains spelt incorrectly, but organisers assured us it's actually Alexander O'Neal, not Birmingham's premier Alexander O'Neal tribute act.

Who would surely be called Alexander O'Nearly, anyway.