Mel rips into Spice

'I want nothing to do with them,' angry mayor says

Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman has soured on the Spice Girls once and for all.

Lastman, who made international headlines with his personal plea to Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell not to quit the British pop band, yesterday said he's furious with them.

"I don't give a damn about the Spice Girls," he said, adding the group's refusal to give a promised free concert Sunday at Mel Lastman Square has left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Am I soured on them? Look, they're great performers ... but people have to remember where they come from. You start off small and you start off with nothing -- why not help some kids who need help?" Lastman told reporters.

"I'm not interested in seeing the Spice Girls. I want nothing to do with them."

The mayor added there's no way he'll present the quartet with the keys to the city or pose for a picture.

"They said it would be a great photo-op and they would pinch me. (My wife) Marilyn can pinch me. She hasn't pinched me in 20 years, but maybe she will!"

On a more serious note, Lastman admitted he was disappointed his granddaughters now will not get the chance to meet the chart-topping sirens.

"I'm upset for them, but what I have to do is right for the city. I swear they promised a concert and they didn't deliver," Lastman said.

"It was all arranged with the police, with the ambulance ... with the fire. It was all set."

Lastman said he feels he was "led on" by the Spice Girls.

Instead of a public performance in North York the day after their sold-out Saturday show at the Molson Amphitheatre, the Girls will play at MuchMusic on Queen St. W.