TICKETS are on sale for a major music festival set to take place in Dorset, although its licence application is yet to be approved.

Organisers of Bestival are confident they will get permission to stage the four-day event in the grounds of Lulworth Castle and have already started selling tickets for the location.

However, the 28-day consultation with Purbeck District Council, which started mid-December, is still ongoing.

The move to Dorset will see the popular festival leave its Isle of Wight home of 13 years and join its sister show, Camp Bestival, at Lulworth Castle.

The full line-up for this year’s Bestival, which takes place between September 7-10, is yet to be revealed, but recent headline acts at its Isle of Wight festival have included The Cure, Stevie Wonder, Florence and the Machine, Elton John, and Duran Duran.

A spokesperson for Bestival said: “Both Bestival and the landowner are fully committed to delivering Bestival at Lulworth Castle. We already have the benefit of a long-standing, first class relationship with the local authority and other key stakeholders involved in the process and have submitted a plan that draws upon the wealth of experience and knowledge that we have from working at the venue for the last 10 years.”

When news of the move was first announced, Dave Grindle, operations director for Loud Sound, said the site’s capacity would be expanded to around 40,000, compared with the 30,000 currently catered for at Camp Bestival. On the Isle of Wight Bestival has had a capacity of around 50,000.

“The extensive knowledge we’ve gained of the site and the surrounding area over the past decade will help us deliver two unique events while minimising any disturbance to local residents,” he said.

He added relocating Bestival was a “tough decision for everybody to make” but that organisers were confident it was the right move for the future of the festival.

He said he was also confident the event would provide a further boost to the Dorset economy.

Meanwhile, Bestival curator and DJ Rob da Bank promised an “incredible line-up” and “ridiculous new stages and installations” for this year’s festival.

Camp Bestival, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary, will take place from July 27 to July 30.