A theatre in East Lancashire said it is “never inviting Roy Chubby Brown back” after he cancelled a gig due to illness.

The 77-year-old comedian was meant to perform at the Civic Arts Centre and Theatre on Union Road in Oswaldtwistle, tonight (December 23).

Roy, real name Royston Vasey, has now cancelled the performance as he and some of his touring crew have fallen ill.

Roy's management team say they have offered to compensate the venue for their admin costs, as a "gesture of goodwill". 

This gig was originally meant to take place in July but the comedian had to reschedule due to a hip injury.

The creative director of the theatre, Gayle Knight, said his cancellations have cost the theatre money, adding it will “never” be inviting him back.

A statement from Roy Chubby Brown’s management team said: “Really bad news I’m afraid.

“Roy and two of his touring crew have fallen foul of the virus which seems to be sweeping the UK at the moment.

“Roy is really poorly with sickness, headaches. He is aching and has no voice at all. It is impossible for him to perform in Oswaldtwistle.

“I understand there will be a lot of disappointment but I can only apologise, I haven’t got a magic wand to get Roy’s voice back and take away the sickness.

“We are communicating with the venues to reschedule the dates as soon as possible so thank you in advance for your understanding, especially the Oswaldtwistle fans as Roy and I are fully aware this [isn’t the first time] we have had to reschedule on you due to illness , no one is more frustrated than we are.

“I’ll give more info as soon as I can and once again my sincere apologies for the inconvenience and disappointment.”

Ms Knight said she spent Thursday contacting ticket holders to tell them the news and said this is the third time he has cancelled.

She said: “As the management at the Civic, can I say, this [isn’t the first time] he has done this to us so I can guarantee we will never be inviting him back.

“We have lost too much money, time and goodwill of our customers on trying to accommodate him.

“Other theatres have banned him because of the content of his show but we stuck with him and refused to censor him but cancelling three times is how he has repaid us.

“I will now spend the afternoon phoning everyone who has tickets and refunding their money.

“If anyone has tickets and wants to acknowledge they’ve seen this can you please add into the comments to save me one less person to ring.”

A spokesperson for Roy's management team told The Lancashire Telegraph: "Roy’s health will always be my number one priority so I had no other option than to cancel the performance 

"I did ask Gayle to reschedule the performance into 2023 but Gayle has obviously said that she doesn’t wish to proceed for her reasons already quoted.

"I will obviously accept and respect her decision and customers will be refunded 

"As a show of good will and good faith I have offered to compensate the venue for their admin costs, not that I have to contractually, but because Roy and I feel this is morally the right thing to do.

"Roy is genuinely poorly. He is human and not immune from viruses and we would  never cancel a show unless 100 per cent necessary.

"We apologise for any inconvenience and disappointment but sometimes circumstances are beyond are control and this was one of them."