DEVASTATED parents said their kids were in tears after they went to watch Paw Patrol Live – only for the show to be cancelled minutes before it was due to start.
Jessica Shepherd, 51, drove her daughter and grandkids an hour and a half to watch their hero pups on stage at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham on Wednesday.
The gran and her daughter, from Elm, Cambs., splashed £90 on tickets in total and kept the show a surprise from her Paw Patrol-crazed granddaughter Nancy until just days before.
Jessica said the little tot knows "all the characters" and could barely contain her excitement on the journey over.
But it was only well after they took their seats with Jessica's pal Zoe and her two kids, four and 13, that the family learned the show had been cancelled.
"It was absolutely awful," Jessica told The Sun Online.
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"We went and sat in our seats in the theatre, we had the countdown, wondering which characters were coming on, all the excited children around.
"Then at about 1pm when the show was about to start there was a tannoy announcement to say due to unforeseen circumstances the show was cancelled.
“The children were all just devastated. There were kids dressed up head to toe in their favourite characters, they were crying, they were beside themselves.
“There were mothers going crazy at staff. To me it looked as though staff at Nottingham Arena weren’t aware [it was being cancelled] either- they looked quite shocked as well."
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Jessica said their group didn't believe the announcement when they first heard it, assuming the Paw Patrol pups would "come and save the day".
But as families remained in their seats until the show was due to begin, staff members were eventually forced to read out an announcement on stage.
Jessica's friend Zoe, who was also there, said: “The poor arena staff didn't know, they were still letting people in.
"They just said there's a statement to follow on the website.
"When you go on the Paw Patrol Facebook page they’d announced at 1.10pm it wasn't going to happen. They just said it wouldn't be happening."
A statement on Paw Patrol Live’s Facebook page read yesterday: “Unfortunately, due to cast illness, we will not be able to go ahead with the remaining two performances in Nottingham today.
Outside the arena it was awful – there was kids crying… I know it sounds ridiculous but when there are children involved, it’s absolutely heartbreaking.
“An update will be circulated shortly about the next steps regarding your tickets for the show.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”
Facebook users were quick to comment, with one mum writing:“Absolutely disgusting. We’ve travelled from Bristol to see this show. We bought merchandise, drinks, popcorn and snacks at 1pm.
"The announcement was made at 1:30pm over a tannoy. The crowd thought it was a joke. All we could hear we boos and children crying with disappointment. Why didn’t you have a back up?”
Zoe, Jessica and Amber took their kids to a soft play centre as well as Pizza Express later in the evening to try and soften the blow.
But the additional treats meant they ended up spending far more money than they ever wished to, totalling hundreds between them for the day out.
'HEARTBREAKING'
Jessica said: “For them not to even bring one character on stage to compensate the children.
"We said we’d take them to the soft play because we felt we had to do something with them.
"But outside the arena it was awful – there were kids crying… I know it sounds ridiculous but when there are children involved, it’s absolutely heartbreaking."
She added: "On Paw Patrol Live’s Facebook it was announced half an hour earlier than when we were told – so that’s the main thing, they’ve had us all in there spending money when you knew it was cancelled. It’s wrong.
"And if a cast member is that sick that it’s wiped out all the other cast members in an hour, what is wrong with them? We want to know.”
Jessica's friend Zoe said she has applied for a refund for her tickets, which she spent £120 on in total.
She says she spent around an additional £200 on extras for the day, including petrol, food and drink.
The mum-of-two has since been told another replacement date has been added for the show – but it falls the day before kids are due to go back to school which is "not ideal".
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She has also been told a refund will take up to 30 days to come through.
Paw Patrol Live has been approached for comment.
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