THE Dorset businessman named as the organiser of the closed Laplands West Midlands said: “It’s nothing to do with me.”
Matthew James was said by trading standards officers to be the man behind the event near Wolverhampton which shut on Saturday.
“I couldn’t care less who Staffordshire County Council have said is the organiser,” he said yesterday. “The person is Jimmy James, who happens to be my brother.
“I never had any involvement.”
The event came to prominence because its name and website were similar to the now infamous Laplands New Forest event, which closed last Thursday.
Mr James owns Tall Trees caravan park in Matchams Lane, on the same road as Laplands New Forest, but he said the media had tried to make a link between the two events when there was not one.
“What they are trying to do is link my brother with Laplands New Forest because I own Tall Trees but they are barking up the wrong tree.”
Brother Jimmy James, from Southampton, has previously been reported as saying he was “inspired” by the Dorset event after Matthew mentioned it to him.
Laplands West Midlands’ website blamed poor ticket sales due to bad publicity for the closure and offered full refunds.
Trading standards had expressed “serious concerns” about whether the event could deliver the attractions promised on its website.
Jimmy James’s solicitor Sandro Placidi said his understanding was Jimmy was the organiser and that apart from the similar names there was no connection between the two.
Carol Dean, from Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet, said yesterday: "Thankfully very few paying customers came to Laplands West Midlands on Saturday.
“We have no way of knowing how many people bought tickets and were either put off attending by the volume of publicity or took one look at the site and decided to drive off.”
Dorset County Council yesterday said it could not comment further on last week’s statement that it was wanted to take legal action against Lapland New Forest for “misleading” people.
Julie Foy, 41, of Pokesdown in Bournemouth, who paid £180 for seven tickets for December 19, including one to celebrate her six-year-old daughter Molly’s birthday, said yesterday: “I was crying about it. It’s just horrible.”
