Britain's Got Talent finalists axed at last minute

Some of the acts who made it to the next round of Britain’s Got Talent 2009 have had their hopes dashed after being dropped at the last minute.

15 of the hopeful performers were preparing to travel to London for filming after being told they had passed the initial audition stage - only to discover they were being axed after producers realised they had put too many acts through to the second round.

As a result judges Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan and Amanda Holden had to hold an emergency meeting late last week to decide who should stay and who should go.

One act, all-girl dance troupe Jumpin' Jive, expressed their disappointment to The Sun.

"I'm heartbroken," said 12-year-old dancer Bethany Stephenson. "We were so excited. Simon said we were one of the best dance acts he'd seen."

However show producers told the paper they had no choice.

"Believe me, we’d have had more complaints had we made people trek down in the snow to find out they had not got through," said a spokesperson.

Britain's Got Talent is due to return to screens in May.