The Social Festival should be allowed to continue to take place in Mote Park but only if restrictions are put in place to reduce the disturbance to residents, councillors have said.

More than 10,000 music lovers flocked to Maidstone in September to see names such Hot Since 82, Rob Cockerton and Dubfire. They pumped an estimated £1m into the local economy but at the same time brought noise, traffic and anti-social behaviour.

But last night (Tuesday) members of Maidstone Borough Council’s (MBC) heritage, culture and leisure committee decided to allow to allow the festival to continue in Mote Park, though only if the organisers take action to address all the issues.

Overall 53 residents complained about issues including noise, litter, anti-social behaviour and cars being left parked across driveways, up from 19 last year.

Kent Police made four drug-related arrests during the festival, and litter was still being cleared when the Maidstone Mela got underway the following day.

The next Social Festival is due to take place on Saturday, February 6 at the Kent County Show Ground. To avoid affecting residential areas people will not be allowed to walk to or from the venue and will arrive at the event by car or shuttle bus.

If the committee's decision is supported by full council future events at Mote Park will put on additional stewarding, create a plan to prevent traffic problems and effectively deal with litter in the park and the surrounding area.

Cllr David Naghi (Lib Dem), who declared an interest in the meeting because he lives near Mote Park, welcomed the changes which he said were a year overdue.

He said: "We should never had The Social and the Mela in the same week. It was badly managed by Maidstone Borough Council.

"I am no kill joy but other events like Ramblin'Man Fair have no problems. Ramblin'Man was very well run, but The Social wasn't run before."

Event organiser Luke Bendall welcomed the decision and but said steps had been taken to communicate to residents six weeks before the festival and saw over 400 taking advantage of free tickets.

In addition he said The Social Festival was well organised and was shortlisted for the UK’s best small festival after a public vote and also best artist line-up at this year’s UK Festival Awards.

He said: "The local residential community is of paramount importance to us and we will continue to work towards reducing the impact on local areas.

"We will continue to work with all residents, authorities and councillors to further reduce the impact to local residents at future events and plans have already been proposed by us in a debrief meeting that took place post-event.

He added: "We are proud to put Maidstone and Mote Park on the map and show people around the country what a fantastic town it is to visit, live and work in."