A MUSIC event at Swindon's Old Town Gardens Bowl was cancelled because of immi-gration problems.

The band and dancers from the group, Planete Elegance from Kinshasa in the Demo-cratic Republic of Congo, were expected to play at the Bowl tomorrow.

But the group members are still waiting for their visas from the British Embassy in Kinshasa.

They were hoping to receive the visas late today. However they will only be able to fly to the UK tomorrow, arriving too late to play at the Bowl.

Aime Aziza, manager of Planete Elegance, contacted Swindon Council arts officer Toby Rathbone with the news that his repeated calls to the embassy over the past few weeks had not been returned.

Toby said: "We are very dis-appointed to hear of Planete Elegance's problems in obtain-ing visas.

"Unfortunately at this stage we had no alternative but to cancel and would like to apolo-gise to those who were plann-ing to come to the concert."

Having formed in 1999, the group, which consists of 12 band members and six dancers, were set to use the Bowl as the start point for its debut Euro-pean tour.

Anyone who has already booked for the concert can obtain a full refund from the outlet where the ticket was bought. Or customers can exchange their tickets for one of the other World Dance concerts being performed at the Bowl.

"This is just one those things that happens. It is not the first time it has happened to per-formance organisers, and it won't be the last.

"It is unfortunate that this time it was the Bowl's turn," said Toby.

"It is disappointing that we have been given the news at such short notice. If we had been given a little more time, we could have found a replace-ment."

Planete Elegance's appear-ance at the Bowl was part of Swindon's season of global dance music, with dance's originating in India and the Caribbean.

The other concerts in the World Music at the Bowl series have not been affected and will still go ahead.

Other groups include Vin-tage Ska and Rocksteady and The Topcats playing on June 22. Salsa group Chacon y su timba will perform on July 6. Reggae band Lion Train take to the stage on July 20 and Bhangra performers Apna Sangeet play on August 3.

Tickets for all concerts are priced £7 and £5.50 for con-cessions both in advance.

On the day, tickets are priced £9 for adults and £7 for con-cessions.