Jess Glynne dropping out of the Castle Concerts cost the council £130,000 as Craig David failed to sell out.

The only event able to fill the castle in Rochester was the proms (£35), the one night revellers can still bring in their own alcohol following last year's controversial booze ban.

A total of 3,400 people paid to see the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra close this year's four-night festival on Saturday, July 13.

Capacity at Rochester Castle is 4,500, but is dropped for the proms to allow people to sit down.

Medway Council was under pressure to make the concerts a success this year following a slump in sales in 2018 and got off to a good start when they signed up Jess Glynne for the Thursday and promptly sold out.

However the UK's most successful female star pulled out with two weeks to spare citing doctor's advice and was replaced on the bill by Craig David, who returned after playing two sell-out shows in 2017.

His appearance wasn't as popular this year, with just 2,606 tickets selling.

That, along with the fact those who had paid £55 to see Jess Glynne received £10 back when she dropped out, meant the council lost £130,000 on the gig alone.

A DJ set from dance sensations Rudimental (£48.50) also failed to pull in the punters, with 1,816 tickets sold, while the Soul Party (£37.50) on the Friday featuring George McCrae and Heather Small was attended by 1,585.

Council leader Cllr Alan Jarrett (Con) has told KMTV's Paul on Politics the current losses are "unsustainable" but the authority has a plan to get back on track and cancellation is not on the cards.

Labour group leader Cllr Vince Maple welcomed an imminent review into the concerts announced by Cllr Jarrett and reiterated calls for private sponsorship.

It was previously revealed concerts could come to an end after another disappointing year.

Carrie McKenzie, assistant director for transformation at the council, said: "Holding the concerts in such a unique, historic venue provides an intimate setting and much better views of performers than you would find in other larger venues.

"However, this does limit the number of tickets which can be sold. The capacity of a concert combined with the often very high costs required to book international performers - of the calibre people like to see performing in Rochester - as well as the production costs means that there will be a variation in ticket prices.

"In comparison to attending concerts in many other venues around the country, the ticket prices offer very good value for money."

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