Hevy Festival will not take place in Kent this summer.

For the past three years the hardcore, punk and metal music event has been held at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park near Hythe.

In April this year, festival director James Dutton told the Kent Messenger Group that Hevy was moving to a new venue in the county as it needed more space.

James, who lives in Canterbury, said at the time: “Hevy is definitely still going ahead. We are still going to be in Kent. I have spent the last six months looking at new venues, and we have one lined up, but we are still sorting contracts so I can’t reveal it yet. I can say it is closer to London.”

But this week, organisers revealed that due to licensing issues with the Kent site, they had abandoned plans to hold it in the county.

Instead of a three-day camping event, it will now take place at the O2 Brixton Academy on Sunday, August 4.

Hevy began as a one-day event at Folkestone Harbour back in 2009, headlined by Feeder and supported by Ash and Gary Numan. It was the brainchild of James and fellow music fan Claire Baker, keen to offer an “alternative” music festival with a diverse line-up.

James said: “Hevy was set to move venue this year and we found the perfect site. It gave us much more room, a more central location, more generous operating hours and it allowed us to drop the dreaded no re-entry rule. We were all lined up to announce our new home, when a well-hidden licensing condition was discovered that would need to be overruled for the site to host Hevy.

“Unfortunately the appeal process would take two months and we didn’t want to risk a last-minute cancellation if things went sour. So we’ve decided to shelve the camping set-up until 2014 - and instead put on a load of events with the bands already booked, including a new breed of Hevy Fest at Brixton Academy.”

Current ticket holders will be offered a refund.

Tickets for Hevy Festival at Brixton are £28. Doors open at 2pm. Visit www.hevy.co.uk for information.