Canterbury City Council has launched a tender process to run the next Whitstable Oyster Festival – with the winning bidder to be paid £30,000.

However, the eight-month contract has stayed true to a commitment from councillors in September to scale back the event following complaints about this year’s celebrations.

Establised in 1984, the Whitstable Oyster Festival has become a vital driver for the town’s economy, taking place over eight days in July.

The tender document, which seeks to appoint a “service delivery partner”, hails how the festival has gained media coverage on BBC’s Coast, The Hairy Bikers and ITV’s Ade in Britain.

It said: “However, this increase in profile has resulted in challenges to the town’s infrastructure and the influx of summer visitors now needs close management to ensure people are safely dispersed across the various attractions in the town.

“In order to retain the local charm of the event the council would like to limit any further growth of the festival.”

Councillors said the 2017 festival – due to run from Saturday, July 22 to Friday, July 28 – would be subject to stringent conditions following complaints about excessive drinking, littering and over-crowding this year.

A report from officers added: “The Whitstable Oyster Festival and wider activities, while demonstrating strong economic benefit has grown beyond the infrastructure of the town and may be contributing to undesirable outcomes such as antisocial behaviour.”

It added: “During the course of the current contract the festival has expanded and the increase in visitor numbers, combined with the small footprint of the town has brought significant infrastructure issues.”

It also suggested residents reported “feeling ‘unsafe’ and repeatedly questioned the lack of police presence”.

The tender document adds the £30,000 fee “includes all project management fees and project delivery costs”, running from February to October next year.

Interested bidders have until noon on Monday, January 9 to make submissions.