RAZOR Ruddock was unable to appear at the Moonrakers yesterday after a booking mix-up left the charity event high and dry.

The former Swindon Town, Liver-pool, Tottenham Hotspur, and West Ham player was due to give a talk to more than 200 people at the pub to raise funds for the Prospect Hospice 160 Appeal.

But the date of May 9, Ruddock’s 46th birthday, when he was due to appear, had already been booked for another event at the pub, so tickets have had to be refunded to fans by organisers Colin Yates and Sean Harper.

“It was cancelled after the original article went out in the paper and they realised it was not available,” said 34-year-old Colin, from Haydon Wick.

“The Moonrakers set it on the day, but realised later that they had booked it for the wrong date. They had another event for May 9, which had been bookedsince last year, so that had to take precedence.”

The pair hunted around for a different venue but were unable to find anywhere with enough room.

“We looked at other venues to hold it on, but we could only find places which could hold up to around 150 or 160 people, and we had sold more than 200 tickets,” said Colin. “All the tickets have now been refunded.

“First of all we were looking to run it on April 23. We spoke to Razor Ruddock’s agent and he said he was available on May 9. That’s his birthday, so we were surprised he was making himself available on that date.”

The exclusive dinner party is still an ambition for Colin and Sean.

“We will probably be looking to run it towards the end of the year now,” added Colin. “The problem is that Ruddock is asking for compensation, so we are going to have to sort that out first.

“They just sent us an email at the start of the week complaining that it was too short notice to cancel, and claimed not to have received an email we had sent weeks ago to cancel it.

“I asked the agent what sort of arrangement does he want to come to and he hasn’t got back to me.

“I find it a little bit of a sore point when it is a charity event.”

Neil Ruddock’s agent said he had been having communication problems with the organisers.

“I think we have been led up the garden path a bit here,” he said. “I haven’t been able to speak to the organisers to sort this out.”

But Colin said he would still like to host an event with the football legend.

“It is still something we are looking at doing, providing we can come to an understanding,” he said.

“We organised it with the Liverpool Supporters Club, because he was an ex-player of theirs as well, so we will have to sit down with them at the start of next season to look at what we can do next.”