THERE was dismay on social media this week when the Bankes Arms announced it was cancelling its hugely popular beer festival.

A notice on the Studland pub’s website stated that it would have been the 23rd such event, which has gone from serving 50 to some 200 barrels of beer, and the cancellation came with “extreme sadness and regret”.

The notice said that “due to stricter licensing restrictions imposed on the festival this year, it has become untenable”.

Manager Rebecca Summers declined to go into detail about the licensing row, but said the chief concern was “safety issues”. Last year a fight between people on two boats, likened by onlookers to a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean, was linked to the event.

“That wasn’t anything to do with us, we can’t control what people are doing out at sea,” said Ms Summers.

However she said the pub has no plans to hold any similar events “in the foreseeable future”. The pub is believed to have hired security staff for the event in recent times.

Several would-be revellers contacted the Echo to express their disappointment.

Tom Dowden tweeted: “More fun is been taken away from people. Let’s make everyone stay at home. Wake Up, Work, NO PLAY, Sleep, repeat. #funspoilers”

However some residents of Studland village are likely to be more content with the turn of events. Neighbour Robin Hilton said the event had caused much disruption for people on the shoreward side of the village.

“I don’t think the pub’s owners would be particularly concerned about it going, the pub and brewery is very successful and the festival has just grown too much,” he said.

“This is only a small village. There was a lot of congestion with all the visitors and rowdiness with all the drinking.

“Our biggest issue was the music, if you can call it music. I am pretty ancient now but a beer festival is not a pop concert.”

The Echo was unable to contact the chairman of Purbeck District Council’s licensing committee, Councillor Mark Unsworth, for an explanation of the situation.