"All headline acts turned up and everyone had a good time." This is the claim of one of the directors of ZOO8 after the three-day music festival at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park was marred by cancellations, health and safety concerns and general organisational problems.

Ricardo Monty has also denied allegations that some acts had not been paid for their appearances.

Mr Monty said: "I'm happy with the way it went. I think ticket holders were happy - all the headliners turned up and Mark Ronson said it was one of the best shows he'd played all summer."

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He admitted that the festival received complaints about "teething problems".

"We're working on the teething problems and will sort it out for next year," he said. "There's going to be people who complain - maybe they queued for too long, or didn't see a band.

"Line-ups are always subject to change, it says that on the ticket. But the headliners turned up and played, and the majority of other bands played."

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Mr Monty said Dizzee Rascal had been paid his fee to perform but did not turn up. He said Athlete failed to turn up and denied claims by their management company that they had not been paid.

"Everyone that played was paid," he insisted.

Bob O'Connor, Howletts and Port Lympne managing director, said: "In spite of the hiccups we experienced, the inaugural Zoo8 festival was a fantastic event and a great success with over 12,000 revellers enjoying 120 acts on eight stages, across three days.

"We were delighted that so many of the festival visitors explored the park and experienced the African Safari raising additional funds for the Aspinall Foundation."

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Port Lympne Wild Animal Park was not responsible for the festival's organisation, and acted as host to raise awareness of the Aspinall Foundation charitable trust.

A spokesman for the park said: "Overall, the view is that ZOO8 is an important and exciting addition to the music scene, nationally as well as in the south east and has certainly put Kent on the map this summer."

Kent police reported no major incidents at the festival, and made three arrests - one for being drunk and disorderly, one for theft and one for possession of cannabis.

A spokesman said: "Considering the number of people present, everything went very smoothly."

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In a statement on his Myspace blog, performer Dizzee Rascal apologised to those who turned up expecting to see him play.

It said there had been constant rumours over the weeks leading up to the event, that in part due to poor ticket sales the festival was in jeopardy.

He had been advised by agents to withdraw from the concert.