PLANS for the £3m Farming in the Park event have been dealt a huge blow by The Royal Parks board who say it cannot be held in Hyde Park.

The decision marks a remarkable U-turn by the board, which only six months ago told the organisers it welcomed the idea.

The sticking point was the suggested date of September 26-29, 2013 for the Festival of Food and Farming, the four-day spectacular’s official title.

But Royal Parks had appeared keen to go ahead with the festival, despite having to push back the date, indicating that April 2014 would be available in principle.

The offer came from Royal Parks’ chief executive Linda Lennon in an email to Farming in the Park director Guy Smith as recently as June 8. But now, after six months of talks with The Royal Parks board, the event has been kicked out of Hyde Park and the organisers are desperately looking for a new venue in or around London.

Despite the huge setback, the organisers have pledged the event will still take place in the capital.

Two previous celebrations of food and farming, staged in Hyde Park in 1989 and 1992, were emphatic successes, attracting more than 900,000 people.

The event currently being planned, which has the Duke of Edinburgh as its patron and which was formally launched by Prince Philip at a St James’s Palace reception last December, aims to attract more than one million people.

Royal Parks now says the planned showcase of British farming excellence “cannot take place in Hyde Park in September 2013/14 or in the near future”.

Guy Smith said: “We’re immensely disappointed and this decision by Royal Parks will have dented the aspirations of the many individuals and organisations, who had pledged their support for the event. But we’re keen to galvanise the overwhelming support we’ve had and are determined to find another venue to showcase the very best of British agriculture to an urban audience.”