A cider and beer festival, which has been running for more than a decade, has been cancelled following a lack of ticket sales.

Organisers say the “decision was not made lightly” to scrap this year’s Crabble Corn Mill Cider and Beer Festival in Dover, which was due to take place from September 29 to October 1 at the mill in Lower Road.

Volunteer and festival organiser Anthony Reid told KentOnline it was down to the number of ticket sales adding the team did not want to risk making a loss.

“We had a cider festival last year and ticket sales were not that great on that one but we ran with it because it was too late for us to do anything about it,” he said.

“We ended up making a loss simply because we relied on extra people turning up on the day.

“This year, as of this morning we had sold about 70 tickets. The whole event is sponsored and we felt we would be letting them down as it is them who are purchasing the cider etc and if you have not got the tickets sold, then you have the potential of making a massive loss.

“We then came to the decision, considering it is only three weeks away, that we would cancel because all the cider and beer would have to be paid for by this week. The minute we do that, we are committed.”

He added ticket sales are usually in the hundreds, so the amount sold so far this year was a big difference.

He said: “Should those ticket sales remain at about 100 or so, then we have got potentially a massive loss.

“Normally on a Friday night for a festival, we sell something in the region of 400 tickets. On a Saturday, we normally have 200-300 tickets already sold. It is a massive difference.

“The beer festival which we had in May was a sell-out which is what made us make the decision on this one.

“We do not just have to buy cider and beer. We also have bands and entertainment we pay out for as well as food. The outgoings go on and on.

“It is really disheartening when you run an event and end up making a loss – particularly after the amount of effort put in.”

Anyone who has already purchased any tickets, which were £10 for the Friday and £5 for the Saturday, will be refunded.

The news was shared on social media with the poster about the weekend being posted with ‘event cancelled’ written over the top but no other explanation.

But in the comments, the manager of the Facebook page has been responding to questions from residents asking the reason why.

“Seventy ticket sales for both days just doesn’t cut it and we can't rely on people just turning up. Not a decision we took lightly I can assure everyone,” one of the replies read.

Another said: “When you are organising a massive event that has a £15,000 plus outlay there comes a time when you can not gamble if people are going to buy tickets or not.

“Unfortunately last year we had to absorb a £9,000 loss and as a charity is something you can't gamble with.”

Crabble Corn Mill is a Grade II*-listed building owned and operated by The Crabble Corn Mill Trust.

It was rescued from demolition and opened to the public in 1990. It now boasts to be one of the most complete and working examples of a Georgian watermill in Europe. All the staff at Crabble Corn Mill are volunteers.

A spokesman for Dover District Council said: “We are sorry to hear that an event is being cancelled. Whilst we have supported Crabble Corn Mill with Community Grants in previous years, the Mill is run by the Crabble Corn Mill Trust.”