Radio 1 has denied botching the allocation of tickets for the Big Weekend, amid accusations that Medway applicants wrongly received the lion share of passes.
Ticketless music fans have flooded internet messageboards slamming the BBC’s allocation of passes, claiming the bulk were accidentally given to ME1 and ME2 postcodes - in Medway - instead of those in Maidstone town centre.
More than 3,200 disgruntled residents have joined the ‘I live in Maidstone and didn’t get a ticket…’ group on social networking site Facebook.
Jamie Gardiner was one of 892 members to vent their anger on the group’s messageboard, writing: “I live ten secs from the leisure centre gates and I didn't get any tickets.
“Only two people I know got tickets and one of them lives in the Medway area.”
Geraldine Cole added: “Thanks for nothing Radio 1, on behalf of the people in Maidstone who receive a big load of absolute nothing, which, by the way, we are going to have to pick up the cost of.”
The BBC released a full breakdown of where the 34,000 coveted tickets have gone in an attempt to quash the bungle-gate rumour.
A spokesman said: “It is not true that Radio 1 mistakenly assumed ME1 and ME2 were central Maidstone postcodes.
“Neither postcode was in the central zone for allocation.
“The highest number of tickets given to any one postcode was 3,042 to ME15, followed by 2,298 to ME14 and 1,710 to ME16 – a total of 7,050 tickets.
“The other tickets were split between the other Maidstone postcodes.
“Those paying council tax in the Maidstone area had the greatest chance of obtaining a ticket – around one in 16 on Saturday and one in nine on Sunday.”
BBC’s figures showed Maidstone council postcodes were given 45 per cent of the tickets - a total of 15,300.
The surrounding areas of the county were given 40 per cent - which is 13,600, while 10 per cent went to postcodes bordering Kent – Sussex, Surrey, Essex and London - 3,400
The final five per cent went to the rest of the UK -which is 1,700 tickets.
More than 518,000 residents across the UK registered for the 34,000 tickets.
TICKET RELEASE – BY POSTCODE
Maidstone town centre – 7,050
The rest of Maidstone - 8,250
Tunbridge Wells – 4,006
Medway – 3,868
Dartford – 1,568
Bromley – 466
Croydon - 172
POSTED: 08/05/2008 17:11:04