The Moonshadow 99 Eclipse Festival, where Van Morrison played on Wednesday night, had been due to run until the end of Friday at Crafthole, near Whitsand Bay, Cornwall.

Abba tribute act Bjorn Again were scheduled to play day and 1997 Mercury Music prize winner Roni Size was scheduled for Friday.

However, festival spokeswoman Jane Osborne confirmed the event was called off on Thursday morning. Organiser and local hotelier Jess Earle looked at the figures and took the decision to cancel.

No show: Roni Size was due to play on Friday

"There was a build-up of negative publicity over a year about how busy it was going to be. How can you react to something like that?" said Ms Osborne.

She reckons the authorities had "over-managed" the situation and should not have made public an emergency planning report by Cornwall eclipse co-ordinator Gage Williams.

"The Government's attitude was not helpful and this is the result. Every festival in Cornwall has gone down whether it was legal or illegal."

The festival, on a 60-acre clifftop site in south east Cornwall, was widely promoted in the music press.

The 2,500 capacity festival had 1,000 people watching Van Morrison on Wednesday night. One of Morrison's best known songs is Moondance.

Security staff are still on the site and campers are being allowed to stay on if they want to.