A far-right group’s meeting has been cancelled after it was discovered it had allegedly booked a venue under another name.

The English Defence League (EDL) was due to gather at O’Connells bar in Chatham tonight at 8pm. It is understood they hired a function room at the pub in Ordnance Terrace under the name of a different organisation and the landlord had no idea it was the EDL.

But when the landlord found out the truth, he took advice from Kent Police and cancelled the event

The EDL is a far-right group set up last year to oppose the spread of Islamic extremism across the country. It has staged several recent high profile protests with some clashes between members and the Unite Against Facism group.

Cillr Vince Maple (Lab), who is part of the Love Music Hate Racism campaign, said the pub management were not happy they had been hood-winked.

He added: "It came to my attention on Tuesday evening that EDL were due to hold a meeting at O’Connells so I contacted the pub.

"The pub landlord immediately phoned the police for advice and was told to cancel the meeting."

The EDL has not responded to the Medway Messenger’s request for a comment.