An investigation has been launched into the celebration event held by Nigel Farage on the night of the Clacton by-election after the local council said Reform had not been given permission for it.
The event, dubbed ‘Farage Fest’, was held at Great Oakley Airfield on August 13, and was attended by Farage after he decided not to go to the result declaration in Clacton.
Reform’s head of conference operations, Ben Sherriff, said the “mini festival” was attended by 600 people and took place from 11pm on the Thursday night through to 11am the following morning.
Attendees had to pay an entry fee but could park or camp on site for free.
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However, there are now questions over whether Reform had been granted the required permission to hold the event by the local Tendring District Council.
Whilst Tendring District Council did receive a late temporary event notice (TEN) for the party, they refused to give licensing permission to Reform because the application had not been submitted in time, the Colchester Gazette reports.
Lisa Hastings, corporate director for law and governance at Tendring Council, said: “We can confirm that a late temporary event notice was submitted in relation to an event on Thursday, August 13, at Great Oakley Airfield.
“This notice was refused, and a counter-notice served, as it was not submitted within the statutory timescales required under the Licensing Act 2003.
“No authorisation was therefore granted under a late temporary event notice for the event.”
A late temporary event notice has to be submitted five working days before an event takes place, a deadline that Rfeorm missed when applying for ‘Farage Fest.’
As a result, Reform are now under investigation from Tendring District Council. Should the council decide to prosecute after the investigation, the organisers could face a fine or even a custodial sentence, BBC News reports.
Hastings added: “As the matter may now involve potential enforcement considerations, Tendring District Council is unable to comment further on any ongoing or potential investigations by licensing or other council departments nor provide any further details about the late TEN submission.”
Reform argue they have broken no rules, with a spokesperson saying the event “was conducted in accordance with the law”.
They said it was an invite-only private gathering and that no activity took place requiring authorisation under the Licensing Act 2003.
Reform added that the temporary event notice had been submitted as a precaution, but was not actually required for the event to go ahead.