Isle of Wight Festival risks having licence withdrawn (From Daily Echo)

Isle of Wight Festival risks having licence withdrawn

10:30am Tuesday 20th November 2012 in News

ISLE of Wight Festival organisers are today due to discover if the event’s licence will be withdrawn.

Festival promoters Solo are battling an application lodged by aerospace firm GKN over claims the company lost £50,000 because of traffic chaos around the Island caused by this year’s event.

Boss John Giddings has claimed he has an alternative site lined up on the mainland if councillors vote against allowing the festival to continue.

In June, prolonged heavy rain sparked massive queues of cars as 55,000 festival-goers attempted to get to the site at Seaclose Park, Newport, which was turned into a mudbath.

Ferries were forced to spend the night in the Solent because huge tailbacks as emergency services attempted to keep roads moving meant they were unable to dock on the island.

Isle of Wight Council yesterday heard GKN was left out of pocket when its East Cowes production plant was affected by the disruption. The firm has demanded compensation from Solo and the council.

Police told the licensing review panel the impact of the torrential rain had not been anticipated, but insisted lessons had been learned.