The man behind some of the UK's biggest festivals says he cannot see how what has been described as the 'shambolic' Zoo Thousand will return for a second year.

Production director at Live Nation John Probyn, who organises both the Download and O2 Wireless festivals, said he felt it was 'impossible' for the three-day music event at Port Lympne to recover from its near-disastrous first outing, as artist and contractors alike would be extremely wary.

He told KentOnline: "I think it's impossible. Unless they have very deep pockets, it's going to be very difficult."

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Hundreds of ticket holders were left deeply frustrated after the first ever Zoo Thousand event fell into near-chaos.

As well as 29 acts cancelling due to lack of payment, including Dizzee Rascal, Roni Size and Athlete, one of the main tents was shut for safety reasons, performances were moved and rescheduled, and campers were left with little drinking water and very few toilets.

Despite strong performances from headliners Mark Ronson, The Hives and The Cribs, many fans were angered by numerous problems, and flooded KentOnline's Zoo Thousand Speakout with complaints.

Wildlilfe Music Events eventually cited a 'miscalculation of cash flow' as one of the main reasons behind the problems, and revealed they had to be bailed out by Port Lympne - a charity - half way through the weekend.

Mr Probyn said: "The UK festival industry is currently in its heyday, which is good news for some, but it also means a lot of people are thinking 'hey let's start up our own festival."

"But the cost of organising one is pretty horrendous.

"There is the infrastructure, health and safety, security, police, fire, medical facilities, transport - the bills go through the roof, and that's before all the artists' costs for appearing, dressing rooms, backstage riders and equipment.

"Whether you have 80,000 or 8,000 people, you still need all those things."

He added: "No one who starts a festival can expect to make any money for the first three years.

"You need a very considerable cash flow to get it started and to keep it going - anyone who doesn't have that is extremely naïve."