The event was mothballed after three years in 2007 after it was unable to attract necessary additional funding, but there was every confidence among organisers it would return this November for a fourth outing with the right funding and support in place.

However, Initial managing director Laurence Jones, whose company produced the event for Channel 4 for the first three years, says its future as a TV and live spectacular is now in doubt, after the right support could not ...