Over the long weekend royalists across Kent came together to celebrate the coronation.

Many of these events were funded by local councils but it appears Dartford Borough Council wins the title of most patriotic having spent more than £30,000 - more than double its closest competitor.

Ashford Borough Council and Maidstone Borough Council were the next highest spenders, both shelling out £15,000, as revealed by an openDemocracy investigation.

Four councils, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe and Thanet budgeted nothing for King Charles III’s special day and Sevenoaks District Council spent just £69.90.

Thanet District Council cited the “current financial climate” and said it had chosen to focus spending on “delivering essential services” for residents, while Canterbury stated itchose not to fund coronation events to avoid competing with the struggling hospitality sector.

Dartford council spent £7,500 on its Great Big Coronation Party in Central Park on Sunday, handed out 60 £100 street party grants and forked out more than £7,000 on royal mugs.

Leader of Dartford council, Jeremy Kite, said: “We’re proud to support local people who wanted to mark this historic occasion.

“We believe bringing people together should be a huge part of any council’s ambition to create better, friendlier and more cohesive neighbourhoods and the coronation was a perfect opportunity to do that.

“The mayor and I had the privilege to drop in on a number of the street parties underway and it was pretty clear that the benefits of residents coming together to share a happy afternoon with neighbours will last long after the national weekend of celebration is over.”

The £15,000 Maidstone budget was spent on marquee hire, lamppost banners, entertainment, catering, flags, bunting, arts materials, safety equipment and so-called “coronation medals”.

These resources were used to host a street party for 150 primary school children outside Lockmeadow entertainment complex.

The kids were treated to a picnic lunch and then the mayor presented them with a “coronation medal” for attending.

Maidstone mayor, Derek Mortimer said: “I was absolutely delighted to be able to host this very special event for the children of Maidstone.

“I was so pleased that we were able to hold a civic event of this kind which saw local children from across our borough get together, enjoy the celebrations and be part of such an important historic event.”

Ashford Borough Council also splashed £15,000 on the event, hosting a live screening and community showcase in Victoria Park, but clarified this came from its annual allocation for civic and ceremonial events.

At the other end of the spectrum, parting with just £69.90, was Sevenoaks District Council.

The council has revealed that the money was used to purchase two coronation plant pots and the greenery to fill them.

While Swale Borough Council chose to use the opportunity to host a lunch thanking local volunteers for their good work, for just £250.

A spokesman for Canterbury City Council, which chose not to allocate any money to coronation events, said: "The King's coronation brought communities together and was a time for celebration.

"We were very happy to support local events by dedicating officer time to ensuring street parties and other events went ahead safely for residents to enjoy, waiving the normal administration and site charges for community and not-for-profit coronation events on our land and providing late notice road closure orders for street parties that missed the cutoff date for Kent Highways.

"The coronation was also an opportunity for the hospitality/private sector to capitalise on a long weekend of celebrations after some very tough years, and we hope our businesses in this sector did really well.

"For us to step in as a council and potentially divert trade away with rival events did not feel right and we are more than comfortable with that decision."

A spokesman for Thanet District Council said: “Like many councils across the country, we are operating with a very limited budget.

“Whilst we fully support people’s choice to commemorate the coronation, in light of the current financial climate we believe that our spending must remain focussed on delivering essential services for our residents.

"Anyone who wished to host a street party was able to do so with the support of our events team providing permissions and we actively promoted many of the wonderful locally organised events being held across the district.”