Plans to bury Michael Jackson at Neverland have been cancelled.

The singer's family were reportedly hoping to lay the star to rest at his beloved ranch but are now scrambling to find a new location amid fears it would be illegal to bury Michael at his former home.

California's health and safety laws prohibit the burying of bodies outside designated cemeteries. The family has been unable to obtain the residential exemption required to bury the star on private property.

A spokesman for Colony Capital, the investment company that purchased Neverland in May 2008, said: "We applied for the exemption but couldn't get it in time."

The Jackson family has released a statement confirming they have ruled out a Neverland memorial.

It read: "Contrary to previous news reports, the Jackson family is officially stating that there will be no public or private viewing at Neverland.

"Plans are underway regarding a public memorial for Michael Jackson, and we will announce those plans shortly."

Previous reports claimed Michael - who died last week after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest - would make his final journey from Los Angeles to Neverland today (02.07.09) in a white horse-drawn carriage.

It was claimed he would then be placed in a glass coffin so fans could pay their respects ahead of a burial on the grounds of the Santa Barbara ranch on Sunday (05.07.09).

Santa Barbara police had already been preparing crowd control and security plans for the memorial, and workmen have spent the past few days sprucing up the abandoned property.

Yesterday (01.07.09), a truck was seen delivering hundreds of portable toilets.

It is believed Michael's body is being held at Los Angeles' Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, where his grandmother was buried in 1990.

Insiders claim a public memorial will be held at the Staples Center sports arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning (07.07.09).

Unlike the planned Neverland ceremony, the body will not be present.

A spokesman for AEG Live, which owns the venue, said: "At this time, nothing is scheduled, nothing is planned."

A private ceremony for family and close friends may also take place at Neverland after the funeral.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Gary, Indiana, where Michael was born, wants the singer's body to be buried in his home town.