A MEETING between organisers of the Wild Life music festival, police, councillors and local residents descended into chaos last night.

The meeting at Shoreham Academy was initially intended for festival bosses SJM Concerts to hear feedback from residents and answer questions about the event, which was held over the weekend of June 6 and 7 at Shoreham Airport.

But the gathering turned into a farce as more than 50 people argued, shouted over each other and walked out in disgust as they struggled to get their points across.

One woman shouted: “I’m going as my blood pressure is up.”

When proceedings did eventually calm down, some residents complained that the noise levels at the 35,000 capacity festival, which featured headline acts Disclosure and Rudimental, were over the permitted levels.

However, Simon Jones, licensing officer for Adur and Worthing, said: “There is no evidence to say the licence has been breached in that way. If you want to have this licence reviewed then you have to make a formal application to the licence authority, accompanied by the evidence as to why you want it.”

Other residents pushed SJM event manager Steve Morton for clarification on whether the company would seek to increase the festival’s capacity to 70,000.

Mr Morton said: “We haven’t even made a decision about returning next year. That’s why we are here with you today to listen to your feedback.”

SJM was accused of being arrogant for already advertising dates for an event next year.

Mr Morton responded: “We never intended to upset anyone. The date is a provisional date. One of the criticisms we got this time round was that we didn’t put the date out there early enough, so it’s not to be arrogant or worry anybody, we’ve just put it out there.”

Other complaints came from Shoreham taxi drivers, who bemoaned a lack of dedicated taxi ranks and accused Brighton and Hove taxis of “muscling in” on the event.

Meanwhile, one resident quizzed SJM on how the local community actually benefited from the festival.

Mr Morton revealed: “Well for starters, we spent £70,000 on hotels for staff and artists across the area.”

One Old Shoreham Road resident, who gave her name only as GT, praised Wild Life as a “feel the love festival” that put Shoreham on the map.

She said: “I’m looking forward to next year. However, you should have stewards on the main roads next time to make things easier for people who don’t know where they’re going.”

Another resident said: “It was a fabulous festival. How brilliant it was to see Shoreham and Sussex come to life, the place was buzzing. There are lessons to be learned for next year but generally the festival was a big success.”

A total of 15 people were arrested during the Wild Life weekend for drug-related offences. The festival was broadcast to the nation on Channel 4 about a week later.