MUSIC fans who have not yet been given a refund after the cancellation of the Isle of Man Bay Festival could get their money back by pursuing other avenues.

The festival, which should have taken place in June, was cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

Fans who wrote to the organisers were due to receive their money back by Friday (July 29) but this did not happen.

A statement by the organisers, Isle of Man Bay Festival Limited, said: "As stated at the time of cancellation and will be appreciated, all festivals need to be prepaid and the Isle of Man Bay Festival was no exception.

"Therefore as asset disposals have proved difficult in the current economic climate we have been working hard with all the ticket outlets to finalise the refund arrangements.

"We hope to be able to announce details to ticket holders very soon.

"We understand and obviously accept that some ticket purchasers have not waited and already received refunds from their card providers.

"However in the meantime we would like to thank everyone who supported the festival and also for their continuing understanding, it is greatly appreciated."

The Office of Fair Trading said if music fans paid by credit card and the price of individual tickets was in excess of £100 (exclusive of charges) then a claim can be made to the credit card company.

The credit card company is equally liable under the law for the refund.

The card holder should contact the credit card company direct (not Visa, or Mastercard or Amex) and ask for a claim form.

They should state on the claim form it is a claim under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

If the payment was made by credit card but was under £100 people may wish to try claiming under the 'chargeback' system.

In terms of payment by debit card, Visa and Mastercard will both consider claims for refunds under the chargeback system but there is not a legal requirement for them to do so.

The card holder needs to complain to their bank and state they wish to make a claim under the chargeback system stating that the event was cancelled and no refund has been made.

Chargeback may apply to other types of card - ticket holders should contact their banks to see if this applies to theirs.

In both of the above cases ticket holders should make sure they have proof of purchase and if possible copies of any statements made by Isle of Man Bay Festival Limited confirming the event was cancelled.

All claims should be made as soon as possible.

Ticket holders could also write to HMV, the ticket agent for the event, to ensure it is aware of their concerns, the OFT said.

The festival was due to host numerous concerts, including one by boyband Westlife.