POOR ticket sales for a concert starring Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins will mean an embarrassing loss for Basildon Council.

It is understood around a third of tickets for the show to celebrate Basildon district’s 60th birthday in Lake Meadows, Billericay, have still not been sold.

The council refused to reveal exactly how many tickets remain, despite repeated requests from the Echo.

It was reported in October last year the concert would cost £150,000 to stage, but the council claimed it would recoup £155,000 in ticket sales and other receipts, such as food and drink sales.

Fears are now being raised council taxpayers will have to cover the financial loss, if ticket sales do not pick up before the big day on July 25.

Opposition Labour leader Lynda Gordon said: “I have had reservations about this from the start.

“This is supposed to be celebrating Basildon’s 60th birthday, so I think the concert should have concentrated on local performers, who may not be big stars but are still talented.

“I also have concerns about the concert being staged in Billericay, because it is really the Basildon new town that is turning 60, not Billericay.”

She added the tickets at £30 are too expensive for many Basildon residents, particularly during a recession.

She said: “If a couple want to go and they bring their children, they’re probably looking at over £100.”

Mo Larkin, chairman of Basildon Council, told fellow members at a full council meeting in May, tickets for the Katherine Jenkins show were selling fast and they would have to be quick if they wanted any.

She had changed her tone by the latest full council meeting, when she said: “We still have tickets available for the Katherine Jenkins concert, so I would urge all councillors who haven’t purchased theirs to do so.”

It is understood the capacity for the show is between 4,000 and 5,000.

The council’s press office took two weeks to reply to our inquiry over how many tickets still have to be sold.

Spokesman Ryan De’Ath refused to go into detail in his eventual statement.

He said: “Ticket sales for the event are on target through the Towngate Theatre box office and our ticket agents, and have seen a steady rise in the last few weeks, as we predicted.

“We are contractually bound not to release actual sales figures.

“We are confident that we will achieve our sales target.”