WREXHAM punk pop band Neck Deep have apologised to fans after a fight between the group and security at a gig led to it being cancelled. 

Reports from the band’s concert at Nottingham’s Rock City venue on Monday evening described how fans had started crowd-surfing just two songs into the set, prompting venue security to try to remove them from the stage forcibly. 

After the band intervened, singer Ben Barlow called the gig off and said “security messed it up” before leaving the stage.

He later returned to address fans who had stayed in the hope that the gig would continue, saying: “We never want to call a show off. I'm so sorry that you guys have paid and that’s what happened.

“I’m really sorry. That’s all I can say. I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I want to carry on playing the show. I want to be up there now.”

The band, who formed in Wrexham in 2012 and are on tour in support of their latest album The Peace And The Panic, later released a statement on their Twitter account which read: “A Neck Deep show – any show for that matter – should be a protected and positive environment where everyone is safe and free to enjoy music being played.

“The safety of our fans is our number one priority, but no-one involved in a show should ever be in fear of harm or injury – be that fans, crew, venue staff, security or the band.

“The events that transpired last night were regretful and deeply unfortunate. Things rapidly escalated to a point that they should never have gotten to.

“We believe that violence is never a solution and that everything that went down could and should have been handled better by all parties.

“We are so very sorry to anyone who was in any way hurt, upset or inconvenienced last night.”

The statement continues: “All scheduled tour dates will go ahead as planned and we will be taking extra measures to ensure that these events are never again repeated.

“For everyone in attendance last night, we are working on a rescheduled date for you.

“We’ll ensure your original tickets will remain valid or be reissued.

“Thank you all for reading and for your understanding.”

Rock City has also responded after fans took to social media in support of the band with many accusing the security of being heavy-handed.

“It appears that the band took exception to the way the Rock City security were handling fans who were crowd-surfing into the pit and attempting to get on stage,” read the statement. 

“This unfortunately escalated into a physical confrontation between the band and the security staff.

“Having reviewed the CCTV footage and spoken to witnesses, it doesn't appear that the security staff were disproportionate in their response.

“We know how disappointing this has been for the fans who didn't get to see the band play.”