A MUSIC and food festival organised by chef Jamie Oliver and rock star Alex James could run later into the night.

Organisers of The Big Feastival have applied to West Oxfordshire District Council to modify its premises licence for the August 28 to 30 event.

But some homeowners have urged councillors to reject the plans next Thursday over concerns about noise disturbance and overnight traffic.

Some 16,000 flocked to Blur bassist James’s Kingham farm last summer for acts including Fatboy Slim and Jamie Cullum.

Organisers have applied to have live and recorded music on the opening Friday, August 28, from 10am instead of the noon start allowed under its current licence.

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While live music would still finish at midnight on Saturday, recorded music would go on as late as 2am compared to midnight before.

And live music would start an hour earlier on Sunday at 10am and finish at 11pm compared to 8pm currently allowed. Recorded music would finish at midnight compared to 10pm.

Seven objections were sent to the council.

Lyneham resident Dr Carole Sherwood said: “I feel very uneasy about the way this festival is developing in scale, year-on-year.”

Fellow Lyneham residents Michael and Sarah English wrote: “This latest application represents an incremental drift towards a much larger music festival.”

Lyneham Parish Meeting objected to “extremely audible” music.

A statement from festival organisers said: “We have an open dialogue with the local community to minimise the impact of the festival and are governed by, and comply with, strict licensing guidelines and work closely with the licensing authority to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum.

“Any activity at the event is in line with our positioning as a family festival. We are extremely proud of the benefits that The Big Feastival has and will continue to have on the local economy.”