A community event set to be held in Stevenage between Friday, June 2 and Sunday, June 4 was cancelled after Stevenage Borough Council (SBC) took legal action.

The Broadwater Day 23 Jubilee Festival at Shephalbury Park had been organised by the Longmeadow and Bragbury End Residents Group (LBERG) and would have included a cinema night, overnight camping, live music, and a dog show.

But, after SBC filed for an injunction to stop the event, LBERG made the decision to cancel it just one day before it was set to begin.

LBERG had not sought permission or a licence for the event.

James Smith, who was organising Broadwater Day 23 as part of LBERG, argued that neither was required and previously said that the event would "absolutely" go ahead as planned.

That position changed around 7pm on Thursday, June 1, when a statement was posted on the Facebook page for Stevenage Broadwater Day Group: "Due to the negligence of Stevenage Borough Council we have had no choice but to cancel this weekend's event".

In a comment on that post, the group said that "the local authority [was] leaving everything to the last minute".

James received a letter from SBC's acting solicitor on May 24 which threatened legal action if he did not cancel the event.

Shortly afterwards, Cllr Sandra Barr, executive member for community, neighbourhoods, co-operative councils and children and young people at SBC, said: “We are taking steps to stop this event from taking place to avoid noise complaints, unauthorised camping and littering, unlicenced entertainment and to place the safety of our residents first."

With James planning to continue with the event, SBC then issued court proceedings for an injunction on Wednesday, May 31, and a hearing was listed for 9am on Friday, June 2 at the High Court in London.

READ MORE: £34k to upgrade grassroots sports facilities in Stevenage and North East Herts

By the time of that hearing, the cancellation of Broadwater Day 23 had already been announced on Facebook.

Later on the day of the hearing, a spokesperson for SBC said: “The council’s position was that the Broadwater Day 23 (BWD) event scheduled to be held in Shephalbury Park between 2 and 4 June 2023, had been organised without the relevant permissions and licences in place.

"As such, the council issued court proceedings for an injunction on 31 May 2023.

"A hearing of that injunction was listed for 9am this morning [Friday, June 2 2023].

“Yesterday evening, a post on the Broadwater Day Facebook page said that the BWD event had been cancelled.

"At the court hearing this morning, Mr Smith gave undertakings to the court that he had posted on the Facebook page that the event was cancelled and had contacted third parties to notify of the event cancellation.

"Following these assurances, the council decided not to pursue the application.

“If you wish to organise a community event, please talk to us in advance. We can provide support to secure the appropriate safety and licencing permissions."