A QUESTION mark hangs over the Island’s newest festival, the Great Wonderfest, after police recommended its alcohol license for refusal.

The three-day family festival, hosted by children’s TV presenters Dick and Dom, is due to take place at Duxmore Farm, at Downend Road, Newport, from August 1 to 4.

Boyband superstars Busted and The Vamps will headline, alongside Sigma, Example and Conor Maynard.

However, the event does not yet have a licence.

A meeting of the Isle of Wight Council’s licensing committee is due to take place next Tuesday (May 21) after police recommended the licensing application for refusal, after raising concerns over the paperwork.

PC Paul Bradley said there was no consultation with police ahead of the application submission.

He said: “It quickly became clear from the accompanying documents that they were very generic, and although some changes had been made to identify them as relating to this event, there were quite a few references to other events and to staff members who had nothing to do with this event.

“It was therefore concerning to see that very little effort seemed to have been made to ensure that the documents were fit for purpose prior to their submission.

“The most glaring example of this was that staff were instructed to report any suspicious packages relating to a possible terrorist threat to a person who had nothing to do with this event and had previously worked with the applicants at an event in 2017.”

After the concerns were raised with the organisers of the festival, the police drew up a list of conditions for festival organisers to meet.

The applicants agreed to all conditions except two — that there be no shots, or shooters with all alcoholic drinks served with a mixer, and that the areas around all bars selling alcohol have some form of physical boundary around them.

Responding to the concerns a Great WonderFest spokesperson said: “The proposal to ban ‘shots’ or ‘shooters is unclear. These rules would be unduly restrictive on customers and a clause we haven’t been presented with in previous successful licence applications.

They added that physical bar barriers would not be practical for single adults caring for children.

However, the police said it was not appropriate for shots to be sold at an event that is being marketed as ‘family friendly’ and that a physical barrier would prevent underage drinking.

The licensing committee will now have to decide whether to refuse the application entirely, or approve it, with or without the police’s conditions.

The Great WonderFest said it was committed to making the event a success.

A spokesperson said: “The organisers of the Great Wonderfest have many years of experience and involvement in the organisation and running of major events on the Island and elsewhere, in particular in regards to running family friendly events.”

Updated 5pm

Organisers have offered reassurances about the event.

They said the event will still go ahead with alcohol sales and the two conditions would be resolved one way or the other.

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