PLANS for a series of festive late-night parties at the Hop Farm Country Park at Beltring, near East Peckham, have been scuppered. Many villagers in the area have breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that the proposed 14 parties for up to 1,200 revellers over Christmas the the New Year were no longer on the cards.

Tonbridge and Malling council's planning department wrote to Jeremy Millins, managing director of the promotion company, The Pure Group, last week to advise him that his scheme to hold the late-night parties, ending at 3am (6am on New Year's Eve), would need planning consent.

Mr Millins had hoped that the large greenhouse-style structure he was proposing to put up at the tourist attraction would not need planning permission because it was not a permanent structure. But council officers also discovered that the parties would bring the number of one-off events held at the hope farm to more than the 28 permitted in a year.

Mr Millins has now withdrew the application he had made for an entertainment licence.