The Association of Brass Band Adjudicators (AoBBA) has offered its apologies for the confusion that arose in the announcement of the results at the Midlands Regional Championships, Championship Section contest in Corby on Sunday evening.

Statement

In a statement they said: "We offer our apologies to all involved in the Championship Section of yesterday's Midlands Regional Championship (Sunday 26th February) for the confusion during the announcement of the results.

Following the announcement of fourth and third place, the announcements were halted. In full view, the adjudicators corrected their error so that the right results were delivered, with the results ceremony then continuing.

This was in no way the fault of the contest organisers whose procedures and paperwork were detailed and clear, but rather the fault of the adjudicators who misread the way in which they were asked to present their results.

An apology was offered at the time, from the stage, by the adjudicators, accepting full responsibility."

Highest levels

They added: "AoBBA strives to achieve the highest professional standards and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is given every year to ensure such incidents are avoided.

However, our members are human and whilst errors are not deliberate, we continue to work to lessen the likelihood of future incidents.

AoBBA has been in communication with the adjudicators concerned and is finding ways to offer its ongoing support to members to ensure this situation is not repeated.

An apology was offered at the time, from the stage, by the adjudicators, accepting full responsibilityAoBBA

Resignation

They concluded: "Unfortunately, one adjudicator (understood by 4BR to be Stephen Roberts, who was joined by Leigh Baker for the contest) has felt it necessary to resign from AoBBA.

Through the trainee adjudicator scheme and ongoing CPD, our members are fully supported by an organisation that endeavours to deliver professional and experienced adjudication for the modern brass band contest.

We thank Lesley and all the contest committee at MABBC for the tireless work they do to provide a weekend of high-quality brass band competition."