BOOMTOWN Fair has applied to expand in size to take up to 60,000 revellers.

The festival had hoped the increase from 50,000 could be dealt with as a minor amendment to its existing licence but the city council refused last month.

So the organisers have submitted a full application for a new premises licence which is due to be dealt with in early June.

That says BoomTown will give it time to sell the extra tickets.

The organisers also want to increase the size of the festival site and alter the traffic plans which would see a new car park onto the A272 and to ease pressure on the A31 access.

They stress the hours and activities will stay the same.

In a statement BoomTown said one of the main reasons for the application is that, as an independent festival there is no major sponsorship or investment and the event is mainly financed through ticket sales.

Chris Rutherford, co-founder and festival director, said; "Even if the festival was to stay the same capacity, with the same lay out, stages and infrastructure year on year, the cost of putting on the event would still increase beyond a sustainable level due to the yearly rise in hire costs and the external contractors’ fees that come along with building a temporary pop-up town.

"We have planned to accommodate the additional numbers so we know our event and traffic plans, as well as infrastructure provisions, are capable of handling the increase in capacity.”

The number of contractors, security, police, medical support, volunteers and staff onsite throughout the duration count towards the licensed capacity.

Event organisers acknowledge there may be local concerns and have implemented a series of additions to the traffic management plan in preparation for increased capacity.

A new car park for London and south east attendees will be trialled on the A272 with a maximum capacity of 2,000 vehicles.

BoomTown propose that 40 per cent of public tickets above 40,000 will be tied into a coach/shuttle ticket scheme meaning that more attendees will arrive via public transport than ever before.

More train station shuttle buses will ease taxi congestion and make public transport more attractive.

BoomTown says year on year improvements following the residents meetings have resulted in improved signage further out from the event.

An increase in capacity, would lead to an increase in tourism and local spend. The recent Economic Impact Assessment conducted by Tourism South East on behalf of Matterley Estate showed that BoomTown Fair generated £5.7 million in 2015.