A cancelled rock ‘n’ roll night struck a bum note with punters hoping to rock around the clock.

Amanda Grey and her partner Anne were hoping for a night of swinging tunes at The Ritz ballroom, Brighouse, on Saturday.

But the Edgerton pair found themselves all dressed up but with nowhere to go after the evening was cancelled at the last minute due to poor attendance.

Ms Gray, 55, said: “Four of us dressed up to go to the DJ’d rock ‘n’ roll night on June 27 – only to face a lockout and dancers standing in the car park.

“So will we bother going to the Ritz again after such a ‘welcome’? It’s not a good start for encouraging the Ritz regulars to turn up again.”

Ms Gray, a civil servant, added: “We were really saddened we couldn’t get in for a dance.”

Zoe Williams, who books events for the Ritz, told the Examiner that numbers attending the venue’s regular rock ‘n’ roll night had declined over the years.

But Ms Williams said rock ‘n’ roll was far from dead at the Ritz, having booked big names like vintage pop crooner Si Cranstoun, who plays the venue this Saturday.

Ms Williams, the daughter of former Ritz owners Alan and Pauline Olbison, said: “We have persisted with the rock ‘n’ roll night for a lot of years and it’s just dwindled and dwindled.

“We started it 12 years ago and then it was fantastic. Little social clubs do well if they have 50 people for a rock ‘n’ roll night – but we’re a 400-capacity venue and if there’s just 10 people you can’t have much of a night.”

Ms Williams added: “We’ve got some rock ‘n’ roll with Si Cranstoun on Saturday – that’ll be a storming night.

“Si attracts people from all over. We’ve had him five or six times and it’ll be a packed night.

“Rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well this Saturday at the Ritz.”

Ritz manager Glenn Smith said: “Everything goes back into the venue; we don’t make a penny out of it. We’ve lost money on every rock ‘n’ roll night we’ve done.

“We’re happy to draw a line under it and look to the future.

“This venue takes some running and we’re improving it every week – just ask the people who come to our Northern Soul and ballroom nights. We get people from Lancashire and Cheshire as well as Yorkshire.”

The un-rock ‘n’ roll top five

1) You’re No Rock ‘n’ Roll Fun - Sleater-Kinney

2) When the Music’s Over - The Doors

3) Rock and Roll is Dead - Lenny Kravitz

4) The Sound of Silence - Simon and Garfunkel

5) Please Don’t Rock Me Tonight - Fountains of Wayne