An all expenses paid trip to Hamburg for Croydon councillors has been cancelled.

The planned trip to see Rod Stewart - paid for by the council's preferred Gateway developer Arrowcroft - caused anger when it was revealed by the Croydon Guardian last month.

Addiscombe councillors Maria Garcia and Andrew Price were among those approached. Councillor Garcia turned the offer of a free trip to Germany down, while Councillor Price said he was considering going.

Last October councillors went on a similar excursion to see Bruce Springsteen play at the Hamburg arena, which Arrowcroft said is similar to the one it wants to build on the Gateway site next to East Croydon station.

After cancelling the latest excursion a spokesman for Arrowcroft said: "It's a huge missed opportunity for the councillors that would have really helped them to deal very knowledgably with the concerns and questions of people in their ward."