Student revellers won’t be able to party on farmland at the end of term this year after plans were halted by a council.

Organisers were hoping to hold a 450-capacity event at Springfield Farm near Radlett on December 18.

But following a hearing of St Albans District Council’s licensing sub-committee on October 15, councillors rejected the application, and issued a counter notice to prevent the event going ahead.

In their decision, the committee said they did not believe the applicant would be able to hold the event and promote the licensing objective in relation to the prevention of public nuisance.

The December event would have included DJs and the sale of alcohol in a single tent, but the organiser said it wouldn’t have been comparable to festivals that have been held on the site.

St Albans District Council's environmental health team objected to the use of the Old Parkbury Lane site for music events after dozens of complaints over the summer.

An officer said the council had received 80 complaints about the noise from festivals on the site from nine events, despite some of those trying to limit the noise levels.

Watford Observer: The red marker is Springfield FarmThe red marker is Springfield Farm

Applicant Muhammad Chaudhary, who applied for the temporary event notice, committed to using limiters on speakers and using monitoring points around the site, to ensure that the event wouldn’t cause a public nuisance.

He added: "We want to make sure the event takes place, so we’ll make sure that the sound isn’t heard at any of the points at all, and make sure it’s completely dead at all the points you’ve mentioned – even if that means we have to turn it down by a lot, just to make sure the event happens."

But Marieke Koller, an environmental health officer for the council said that while weddings and smaller events had gone ahead on the site without complaint, she couldn’t support the use of live music or DJs on the site.

She said: "Due to the topography and the bad history from this summer, I do not think this type of events are suitable for the site – I think mainly it’s the site.

"The experience level [of organiser] seems to make some difference, but not enough to really maintain or prevent neighbouring premises from complaining – and they are quite a distance away from the site."

The application was turned down by the council but the applicant is entitled to appeal the decision within the next three weeks.