It was the beautiful setting admired by many a performer at Radio 1's Big Weekend - but a week after the artists left Mote Park was still looking like a "rubbish tip", visitors claim.

It was not until Monday night that the park was finally cleared of all the debris.

On Sunday, a week after the event, bottles, cans, paper, clothes and pallets were still strewn across the open space where 40,000 people enjoyed acts like Nelly, Usher, Madonna and the Raconteurs.

India Best, three, was at the park with her parents to watch Cancer Research UK's Race for Life on Sunday, when she got caught in some wire left on the site. Her father, Mark Best, of Loose Road, Maidstone, said: "It was like wading through debris. The park was a total state, just like a rubbish tip."

The council began the tidy-up while the event was still on, with dozens of staff working around the clock to remove litter as it was dropped.

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