A circus that was shut down at the 11th hour due to fears over coronavirus has now been told its shows can go ahead after a U-turn by Kent County Council.

Circus Zyair released a statement this afternoon saying it was delighted to announce it would "be continuing performances from 5pm today" at the Hop Farm in Paddock Wood.

Dozens of families were left disappointed on Friday last week when they were turned away moments before the sold-out circus was due to start its shows.

Tents had been set up but circus bosses were forced to cancel and told they would receive a £10,000 fine for non-compliance if they failed to do so.

KCC warned infection rates were rising in the county and it was worried about the Covid safety measures in place at the 400-acre site, despite a risk assessment approved by Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council.

As a result, circus director Adam Ingham said his firm would be driven to "bankruptcy" after losing out on at least half of the revenue it was hoping to make during the school half-term holidays between October 23 and November 1.

The 28-year-old expressed his anger over the emergency ruling and said: "We have a lawyer and it is now subject to a legal matter."

Major pressure was put on KCC to overturn last week's ruling and this afternoon it was announced that the shows could go ahead.

It came after "positive talks" were held yesterday between circus bosses, KCC and Tonbridge council, which originally gave the go-ahead on October 13.

Disappointed circus-goers are to receive refunds, said the Circus Zyair statement, which added that it was "extremely sorry for the confusion that has been caused over the past few days", adding: "We cannot wait to be entertaining you again.".

Special measures have been put in place to comply with coronavirus safety guidelines, including limiting the capacity to 200, blocking off every other seating row and ensuring 1m space between bubbles.

"Please rest assured that the venue is Covid secure with social distancing in place and the issues over the past few days are not because we have done anything wrong," said circus bosses.

"They came with the police and the reason is because of the rising Covid cases. If that is the case why have they not shut everything down..."

Mr Ingham explained how the safety advisory group at Tonbridge and Malling council had approved everything and was happy with how the event would be staged.

"But 10 minutes before our first show, KCC issued a Covid order to override the original opinion," he said. "They came with the police and the reason is because of the rising Covid cases. If that is the case why have they not shut everything down."

Last Friday, KCC justified its actions by saying that Kent has been classified as a 'medium' Covid alert level, which is the lowest of three coronavirus tiers.

It discussed a series of Covid concerns following talks with Mr Ingram and published them in a 12-page risk assessment, including inadequate ventilation, guests mingling in the car park and staff shortages.

The authority's risk assessment argued the rolling infection rate in Marden, which is about six miles away, was 81.7 cases per 100,000 and say there is a rise in cases in the region.

However, around eight miles away in Leybourne, also in the Malling area, the Paulos Circus group has been allowed to perform during the half-term break.

Paulos even received praise from Kent Police on Twitter who said: "Happy to report Covid-19 checks are all in order for half term family fun and safety."

At the Hop Farm, it has emerged that the decision to ban the event was first proposed by KCC chiefs last Thursday, 24 hours before it was officially brought in.

A teleconference was then held by Kent Police and KCC public health bosses last Friday at 12.30pm. They discussed a series of Covid concerns following talks with Mr Ingram and published them in a 12-page risk assessment.

Under this, Circus Zyair bosses say face masks would be mandatory for the whole audience to wear at the Hop Farm while hand sanitiser would be provided.

At least six members of staff would also be on hand to conduct temperature checks, direct people to their seats, operate the five toilets based at the circus and ensure social distancing rules were be obeyed.

"Given the crowd will be so far apart, it seems unrealistic to only have six staff members on site to ensure compliance to Covid-19 regulations..."

However, in the risk assessment, which was published on KCC's website last Friday, a spokesman said: "It does not seem realistic for only six staff to be monitoring the entire event during a performance.

"Although the venue is a circle, there will be two seating areas, separated by a 30m diameter of the 'stage'.

"Given the crowd will be so far apart, it seems unrealistic to only have six staff members on site to ensure compliance to Covid-19 regulations."

But, Mr Ingham later clarified that all attendees would be seated and every other seating row would be blocked off by at least one metre. The circus boss said that staff and performers would not mix as they were in different bubbles.

In the risk assessment, Mr Ingham said the venue could "confidently" seat 250 people while maintaining social distancing, but they chose not to sell out to a maximum to be on the cautious side.

On potential Covid cases, organisers said they would postpone the show if any attendee showed symptoms and would have two first aiders on hand, but in the risk assessment, KCC said: "This does not seem like a feasible solution."

A Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council spokesman said: “While we considered the risk assessment from the circus to be adequate when we reviewed it in mid-October, we also recognise the increased risk posed by a rising number of cases in parts of Kent.

"Since the county council’s decision on Friday to prevent the circus opening, our focus has been on working with all the parties involved to address the areas of concern and allow performances to take place safely.”

KCC has been approached for an official comment.

Meanwhile, it has published a document that reveals Kent health officials from KCC and Tonbridge and Malling council visited the Hop Farm this morning to carry out a Covid safety inspection.

During the visit, they reviewed additional measures that could be put in place to "mitigate their concerns".

According to the document, Circus Zyair submitted a "revised risk assessment" to address anxieties raised by Kent public health bosses over crowd management and changes made by the circus, although not revealed in the publication, have been described as "sufficient".

The report says: "The recommendation is therefore to rescind the decision and allow the circus to function."

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