Following the news that Babyshambles have been banned by a Wiltshire court from performing at the festival later this month, it's organisers have announced that they are cancelling the event.
A statement on the Moonfest website reads: "On Monday 18h Aug 2008, we appeared before Chippenham magistrate's court where the police successfully convinced the magistrates that the appearance of Pete Doherty at Moonfest was likely to cause public disorder. Using section 160 of the Licensing Act 2003, the magistrates revoked our licence for Friday 29 Aug. With Pete and Babyshambles being our headlining act for the weekend, this draconian action taken by the Police makes it impossible to run the event at the end of August. To say we are surprised and devastated would be an understatement. The Police attended every public licensing meeting over the last six months. They have always been aware that Babyshambles and Pete were appearing. The police also attended the public hearing on the 24 Jul when the licence was granted and made no objections; indeed they actively supported the event at the meeting. We are currently carrying out the huge task of contacting all the people involved in putting the festival together. Once we have done that we will be contacting directly all people who have purchased tickets".
They added: "We would like to extend our thanks to all the people that have been so helpful and understanding in what has become an enormous nightmare to the Moonfest team. There are too many to list individually however we would like to say a special thank you to Pete Doherty who has volunteered to put on a free performance at a private party we are looking to organise for all the people who are affected by this terrible news".
Superintendent Paul Williams of Wiltshire Police said: "The issue is not the act itself, it is the profile of fans that follow the act. Wiltshire police do not have an issue with Pete Doherty or Babyshambles. We are not killjoys and we help organisers with many events throughout the year and some are much larger than this one".
However, Moonfest organiser John Green told The Guardian that the police in Wiltshire "hate" the fact that Doherty lives in Wiltshire and have a private vendetta against him. He said: "They told me privately they hate the fact he lives in Wiltshire and they don't want him on their patch".
Adding his opinions on the matter, former Live Music Forum boss Feargal Sharkey today wrote in The Guardian that this decision had "serious implications here for the wider music community. Not least as to how the Wiltshire constabulary, utilising section 160 of the 2003 Licensing Act, can wield such unreasonable and disproportionate powers in deciding what kind of musicians can and can not play live in their immediate vicinity".
He announced that he is writing to Culture Secretary Andy Burnham on the subject. He said: "[I] look forward to hearing back as to what these extraordinary circumstances were. No doubt UK musicians would also appreciate clarification as to where the line of censorship is drawn".