Thousands of Girls Aloud fans were left disappointed yesterday as the group's Party In The Park debut was called off at the last minute.

Although Bradford's Kimberley Walsh and bandmate Nicola Roberts were able to make it to Myrtle Park, Bingley, on time, the remaining three band members remained stuck in traffic on the M1.

Hordes of youngsters who had bought tickets to see Kimberley's homecoming performance were left bitterly disappointed.

Backstage rumours had begun to fly earlier in the afternoon that they would be unable to perform.

But the cheering crowds basking in the late summer sun were unaware of the bad news to come until Kimberley and Nicola stepped on stage to apologise.

"It's such a shame we can't sing today as I've been looking forward to it for such a long time. I have never performed in Bradford before," said Kimberley. "We are so sorry but its just one of those things."

She had spent the weekend catching up with family and friends in her first trip back home in nearly six months.

She said she hoped they would do a show in Bradford one day, with a tour likely next year.

Girls Aloud had been due to head the line-up. Instead Liberty X took the limelight and were moved up the order. The group's number-one hit Just A Little proved popular as did their forthcoming single Song For Lovers, out later this month.

As organisers realised they would be without a headline act, it fell to '90s pop star Chesney Hawkes to add a couple of extra numbers to his set.

Indeed it was his infectious chart-topper The One And Only that drew some of the loudest cheers of the day.

He even brought one member of Battle of the Bands winners Gypsy on stage to join his band.

The Bradford rock group had been first on stage to warm up the crowds in their biggest gig to date.

Other crowd pleasers were Blue's Lee Ryan, who drew screams of delight as he launched into solo hit Army of Lovers and voice of an angel Charlotte Church with Crazy Chick.

But Huddersfield's Lesley Sanderson, one of this summer's Big Brother participants, walked on stage to pantomime boos. Lesley, better known for her risqu PVC outfits in the house, sang her forthcoming single, a cover of the Alicia Keyes track If I Ain't Got You.

Equally crowded was Saturday's free event Music at Myrtle which saw tribute bands Blondied and Robbin' Millions one the line-up alongside Bradford rockers Smokie.

They took the stage by storm but it was something of a first for remaining original member Terry Uttley.

He remained on the sidelines while recuperating from major heart surgery only four weeks ago and let others stand in for him.

Both events were organised by radio station The Pulse and Bradford Council.

The station's programme controller Mark Brow: "This event gets better and better every year and this year was no exception. We were disappointed that Girls Aloud couldn't come but unfortunately it is one of those things. It still made for a fantastic day."

The Council's head of parks and landscape service David Talbot said: "This has been a great weekend and as always one of the highlights of our year."

Over the weekend an estimated crowd of 25,000 turned out for the shows.