VISITORS were left disappointed when one of British TV’s favourite gardeners failed to turn up for a talk at the Romsey Festival.

Celebrity gardener Charlie Dimmock was meant to give a lecture about garden ponds and Water Features to more than 30 people at King John House in Romsey.

However, following commitments at Hampton Court Palace, organisers say that there had been a misunderstanding and she had forgotten all about the event.

Anne Edwards, 59, from Maybush, who was due to attend the event. She said: “I’m disappointed that Charlie decided not to turn up, there should have been more communication, nobody had no idea what was going on.

“We paid to park and made the effort to get there as well as waiting with 30 others to find out what was happening.”

Organiser Jill Maddock said: “We apologise for any inconvenience to the people that turned up today, Charlie overlooked the event following her commitments after working at Hampton Court flower show yesterday.

“Everyone that has paid for tickets to today’s talk at King John House have been refunded.”

Charlie, who is from Romsey, is one Britain’s best loved gardeners specialising in water features after training for four years, spending a year at Chelsea Physic Garden.

She became a household name on BBC1 gardening show Ground Force and won legions of fans for her penchant for gardening without a bra on the makeover show.

Now she presents Garden Rescue on BBC1 alongside brothers Harry and David Rich where they compete to design gardens for homeowners around the country.

The talk was one of the major events at the Romsey Festival, which celebrates Romsey’s Arts and Cultural heritage.

Details of the full programme are available on the Festival website, romseyfestival.org.