The organisers of the doomed Andrea Bocelli concert in Oxford have said hundreds of people who bought tickets will have to wait more than a week to find out if they will get refunds.

Promoter Vipco, which is facing a police probe into the organisation of the opera show, released a statement yesterday to say the event planned for the Kassam Stadium on July 10 was cancelled due to "insufficient ticket sales and licence issues".

But it did not give any information about refunds for people who have been left out of pocket after buying tickets through Vipco, only saying they would be "updated" in the week beginning June 20.

However, people who bought tickets from Ticketmaster, the national ticket agency, will get their money back.

The Oxford Mail predicted a week ago that the concert would be cancelled and yesterday we revealed that trading standards officers in Oxfordshire had asked police to investigate the way tickets were sold.

Trading standards officer Richard Webb said he was concerned that Vipco appeared "to be continuing to take sales after the first date was cancelled. It appears nothing was being done to organise the event."

Police are waiting for information from trading standards before deciding how to proceed.

The men behind Vipco, Darren Ward and Mike Dandrige, issued a statement yesterday which read: "Vipco announce with great sadness that despite delicate, extensive negotiations between all parties, the Andrea Bocelli concert due to take place on 10th July cannot go ahead due to insufficient ticket sales and licence issues.

"Further legal negotiations are in progress and customers who have purchased tickets directly from Vipco will be updated during the week commencing the June 20. Where tickets have been purchased from other vendors, customers are advised to contact the supplier directly."

Vipco said its ticket holders can contact them by e-mail at vipcoqueries@yahoo.co.uk.

"We fully appreciate that no amount of apologies will compensate those concerned and disappointed by the news. Every effort has been made by Vipco to enable this concert to take place. It is only during the last 48 hours that this position has been confirmed.