Peter Andre was due to headline the pop2the park event

The chart-topper was billed to star at Carlisle's pop2the park event on Sunday, along with Liberty X and Lemar.

Organisers say they were told Mr Andre would not be appearing less than three hours before he was due on stage.

His manager Claire Powell apologised to disappointed fans and said the star had been stuck in a traffic jam on the M25.

Other less well known acts also failed to show up, including Cherie Charles and Twen2y 4 Se7en.

A spokesman for Carlisle City Council said: "We really don't know why he didn't turn up.

"We got a call half way through the show to say he wasn't coming.

"Clearly this has disappointed a great many people, but the show went on none the less.

"We will be trying to get to the bottom of it."

This cost us money as we had flights and dancers committed to the event in Carlisle Claire Powell, Peter Andre's manager

But Peter Andre's manager Claire Powell told BBC News Online: "Peter would never, ever let any of his fans down intentionally.

"He was stuck for five hours in a people carrier on the M25 and it simply got to the point where it was clear he was not going to make Carlisle.

"He set off from Sussex at 0945 BST on Sunday and at 1430 BST he was still 357 miles away.

"We obviously apologise to all those people who were disappointed.

"We spoke to the promoter to see if we could conceivably get a later slot. But even that proved impossible to do because of the gridlock on the roads.

"This cost us money as we had flights and dancers committed to the event in Carlisle.

"Peter would definitely hope to play in Cumbria soon."

Peter Andre has seen a recent revival in his career after appearing on the jungle reality television show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.