 LIVERPOOL'S Summer Pops music festival was axed last night. Leading city politicians, grappling with a difficult spending budget, have decided that an injection of up to £750,000 of council taxpayers' money into the showpiece event is too much to shoulder. Instead, the council will concentrate on revising plans for the Pops from next year when the new arena at Kings Dock will be brought into use. Last night, city council leader Cllr Warren Bradley said: "The decision has been made with deep regret, but in my heart I know it is the right thing to do. Because it is our birthday year, there will be many events across the city as a compensation for the loss of the Pops." But Labour spokesman for Leisure, Sport and Culture Cllr Steve Rotheram attacked the decision. He said: "This is yet another illustration of an administration that has failed the people of Liverpool. It is folly to cancel an event of this magnitude right in the middle of our 800th birthday celebrations. What sort of message does this send out for our Capital of Culture year?" The blow comes after a small committee of councillors met to decide whether to award the contract to one of three bidders wanting to stage the event at Central Docks. There was uproar several months ago when the Daily Post revealed that the council had bankrolled the event to the tune of £3m since it inherited the event in 2000 from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society. The RLPO had launched the event in the 1990s when the Philharmonic Hall in Hope Street was closed for a major makeover. It started as a series of classical family-orientated concerts in a big top at Kings Dock. The council handed management of the pops to local company CMP, headed by businessman Chas Cole. Huge names such as Sir Elton John, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, the late James Brown and, last year, The Who, have since made the Pops an integral part of many people's summer. But costs had rocketed when the event was forced to move to more remote Central Docks because of the construction of the new riverside arena at Kings Dock. Last year, the council had to contribute £800,000 towards the Summer Pops. The decision to cancel this year's event is expected to be confirmed at a special meeting of the council's decision-making executive board which meets at 9am today. | 
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