Queenborough's Independence Day celebrations have been cancelled with just four weeks to go.

Cllr Cameron Beart from Sheppey, who chairs the committee, said: "We kept trying to delay the decision but it is now clear we can't go ahead.

"Usually at this point we would have been making big announcements about our amazing headline act and the fantastic family entertainment and we had lined up.

"Instead, it is with tremendous sadness that we are having to make a different type of announcement and confirm the cancellation of Queenborough Independence Day 2020 because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic."

The vote was taken on Monday night.

Mr Beart said: "At our last meeting nine weeks ago we were hopeful and optimistic we would be able to provide an event this year.

"But most of our organising committee are in the hospitality trade which has been hit hard by the current restrictions and they continue to face an unprecedented challenge going forward."

He added: "The health and safety of the public has always remained paramount in our planning and with recent announcements from the government we have come to the conclusion that the only way forward is to cancel this year's event and focus on a return in 2021."​

Queenborough Independence Day, which marks the day the town was officially handed back to Britain by the Dutch, was the brainchild of Kevin Burgess, the landlord of the Flying Dutchman.

It was gearing up for its fourth year on June 13. The event has previously raised £4,500 for the RNLI Sheerness Lifeboat.

Queenborough surrendered to the Dutch in June 1667 but, because of an administrative oversight, only officially regained its independence when it was handed back to Britain on June 17, 1967.

Read more: Latest news from the Isle of Sheppey here.