Mr Tumble show blow for fans
Hundreds of parents and children were turned away today after being denied tickets for a free show by a children's TV character at Merry Hill shopping centre.
TV presenter Justin Fletcher, known as Mr Tumble from CBeebies, was due to star in four shows at the centre in Brierley Hill.
A crowd of around 800 parents and children converged on the centre hours before the first show at 12pm – but just 250 tickets were available.
Dozens of children were left glum faced when they were unable to get tickets for the show despite some queuing from 6am.
Centre bosses Westfield said demand for the show was "unprecedented and unexpected". Staff were forced to apologise to parents and offer VIP tickets for future events.
Tickets had been advertised as being available at the shopping centre from 9am but the sheer volume of eager families meant many who arrived on time were left empty-handed.
Lynsey White, aged 29, mother of two-year-old Owen, had travelled from Bilston today. She said: "We arrived here at 9am to see queues around the block. When I spoke to people some had travelled from as far as Yorkshire to get to the show and they were very disappointed not to get tickets.
"The organisation of the event is chaotic and some people have just left. It's disappointing for the children."
Westfield marketing manager Kelly Reed said: "We never expected the amount of people to come down that did. Some were queuing outside at 6am but they couldn't be admitted to the centre until the doors opened at 8am.
"We have had shows like this in the past but we have never seen a turnout like this before.
"We have been apologising to parents all morning."
