Update: Following the publication of this story Mark Davison has been offered a 9pm slot by Just The Tonic boss Darrell Martin, so he will be appearing in Edinburgh this summer after all. He will be at the Up The Road venue. There is no ticketing or entry fee, just the usual request for a donation at the end. "He's not charging me for the room but will take a percentage of my bucket. It's a good deal and I'm very happy (and relieved) to have accepted it," says Davison.

Comedian Mark Davison has decided to cancel his run on the Free Fringe as a protest against the way PBH's Free Fringe has handled the recent controversy over control of the Cowgatehead venue. Davison was due to perform his show Mr Susie's Last Chance Cabaret at the Voodoo Rooms from August 8 - 30. Davison says that by doing this he has lost around £800, but hopes to still do some guest slots on the Fringe. And next year he plans to return, "most probably to the paid Fringe".

In a statement published on John Fleming's So It Goes blog, Davison writes "I have watched with morbid fascination and mounting horror as the crisis surrounding the booking of shows at Cowgatehead has unfolded. After much deliberation I find that I feel unable to represent PBH at the Edinburgh Free Festival this year. With great sadness and frustration I am withdrawing my show from The Voodoo Rooms." 

He goes on to suggest that while it is still not clear exactly what went on, his main disappointment is with Free Fringe: "Any remaining neutrality I may have had was destroyed when a full compromise deal was being offered that would have led to none of the Freestival Acts losing their slots (and thereby their money), and PBH appeared to refuse to entertain it. Refused, even, to attend the meeting that would have discussed such a move. An organisation that will not even consider a plan that will save performers’ time, money and artistic effort...cannot genuinely claim to have performers’ interests at heart."

PBH's Free Fringe has previously addressed this issue, maintaining that "Such a meeting is not on the cards.  There is no compromise deal on the table" Free Fringe also suggested that thet building could not accommodate all the slots Freestival had planned. Davison continued by expressing his problems with an element of the Free Fringe ethos

"The insistence on exclusivity to PBH is also something that I find deeply problematic. For my part I have always simply ignored it and continued to perform my main show under PBH whilst still performing as a guest for other organisations, knowing that I was taking a risk...But in the specific instance of Cowgatehead the clause takes on a particularly cruel connotation since it instantly prevents any Freestival Acts who are doing other shows with other organisations from even being allowed to apply to retain their existing slot at Cowgatehead."

Davison concluded by hoping that other performers might follow his example. "I also hope that my slot at The Voodoo Rooms, which in my opinion is one of the best rooms on the entire Fringe, is filled by one of the displaced Freestival Acts."

"It could well be that my stance is nothing more than a futile gesture, but at least I will be able to sleep at night. It is a crying shame that just as the Free Fringe is becoming a serious, viable alternative to the Big Four, it is being destroyed by the very people who claim to be its guardians."

Read the full statement here.