Families and traders have expressed their disappointment criticising long queues and a lack of activities after a popular woodland event changed hands.

Wild Woods Day, held annually in Hockley Woods, has been run for the past 14 years by Rochford Council, however this year the event management was contracted out to a private company, Full Event management.

Hockley residents attending the event spoke of their disappointment at this year’s event, held on Saturday, which reportedly had far fewer stalls than usual and was poorly organised and advertised.

Regular traders, such as John Peters, of Peter’s Ices ice-cream van, claimed he was priced out after being quoted £2,000 for a pitch fee.

He said: “The fee they were asking was absolutely outrageous - as ice-cream men we have a great arrangement with each other and to ask for a payment like this for a relatively small event is almost unheard of.

“Events like these should be about boosting traders, not pricing them out of their area for out-of-town companies to profit.”

Paul Garner, 42, of Hill Lane Hockley, attended the event with his family. He said: “In previous years it has felt like a really lovely community event, with loads for the kids and a really local feel. This year was different, there were a lot of queues, noticeably fewer stalls, and less care from the staff.

“There are so many brilliant groups in Hockley, and the Wild Woods Day should be an opportunity to show them off - I think there would be hundreds of people willing to take on a stall in the future.”

Councillor Adrian Eves attended on Saturday and criticised the council’s decision.

He said: “The main issue was the day went from feeling like a community effort to a corporate event - there were around half the number of stalls usually there and though the people who were manning them did a good job there simply were not enough staff.

“Where local groups such as the scouts have taken quite a central role in previous events there were some missed opportunities to engage with relevant groups.

“I understand organising the event put a strain on the council’s resources, however I’m confident a group of Hockley volunteers could come together and create a better event for our residents.” Full Event Production Limited expressed happiness at working with the council on the scheme.