Leeds 'zombie hunters' demand refunds over cancelled event

Customers paid £23 per ticket for Rundead's Zombie Chase on April 8 - but were left confused when information about the company vanished online and they were unable to contact them.

The Rundead website advertised similar zombie-themed live action events in several UK cities for 2017 - but they have now all been cancelled after the company claimed they had made 'planning mistakes' and been unable to cope with the organisational demands.

Rundead's Facebook page and original website have been deleted, but a statement has now been released on a new page under a different domain name and branding - Zombie Run.

The Manchester event was cancelled twice and organisers claim it will now take place in April, with the Leeds date to be re-arranged depending on its success.

Simon Hill, of Middleton, booked on to the Manchester event as he was unable to make the advertised Leeds date - but became suspicious when he received no information a week before it was due to be held at a secret location.

"After receiving funds from a number of individuals, the company has gone silent and also taken down their Facebook page. There are no further details for the event, no contact from the company and no way of getting a refund," he said.

Concerns were also raised after the company claimed they were unable to process card payments, and instead asked for money to be transferred directly to a business bank account.

The Zombie Run statement reads:-

"Due to planning issues and mistakes, we unfortunately have to postpone events again. We apologise for the inconvenience and are sorry that it's been left this long.

"Manchester had to be postponed due to lack of numbers. There were fewer than 45 people signed up so we could not afford to hold the event. These numbers would not have covered basic insurance and hire costs.

"We have had to push Glasgow back as we are not yet ready to launch the event. When we first had the idea, I do not think we realised how much work was actually needed to plan and organise, especially with the interest shown. The original venue we were going to use turned out to be too small due to the number of people signing up. We spread ourselves too far, listed too many events and we got swallowed up by it all and buried our heads in the sand. We have made a lot of mistakes and let things too far. We know we have caused major damage to the name and the event, but we are going to carry on and prove that we can successfully hold an amazing event."

The statement also claimed that they had lost the entire customer email database after changing the company name.