Fewer coronation street parties will be held in Kent next month compared to the huge number of celebrations that took place for the Queen's platinum jubilee.

The bunting was strung out for more than 600 neighbourhood events across the county last June as the nation came together to toast Queen Elizabeth's monumental 70-year reign.

And after the huge success of last year's Platinum Jubilee weekend, the government had hoped communities would be just as hungry for a slice of Victoria Sponge and a neighbourhood knees-up to toast the new monarch.

But despite efforts by both Kent County Council and Medway Council to make the application process as straightforward as possible - which included waiving all application fees - fewer requests for street parties and road closures have been received by both authorities this year according to figures just released.

The three-day bank holiday in honour of the King's coronation takes place between Saturday, May 6 and Monday, May 8 - and anyone wishing to organise a street party can do so right across the extended weekend.

But residents in Kent and Medway, planning to get neighbours together and therefore needed to notify the council about their plans and get permission for a very temporary road closure, must have done so by the March 3 deadline.

Kent County Council says it has now received 380 coronation street party applications - compared to the 568 events that took place in roads, cul de sacs and residential closes last year.

Over in Medway, the council says it processed more than 60 applications for a party in honour of the Queen in 2022 but this number has dropped to just 30 events for King Charles.

Among the districts to have noticed a sharp fall in applications are Swale, where towns including Sittingbourne and Sheerness, threw 45 events last spring compared to just 20 planned for the coronation and Dartford which had almost 50 platinum jubilee parties in 2022 but has only seen 25 requests for coronation get-togethers.

Folkestone and Hythe enjoyed 37 jubilee street parties, while less than 20 for the coronation have been scheduled while Tonbridge and Malling held a whopping 84 bashes last year, that has now dropped to less than 60.

The only district to be bucking the trend is Sevenoaks which held 36 street parties last year and this May has plans for 37.

Kent and Medway are not the only areas to have reported a drop in street party applications when compared to last year - with other districts and local authorities also admitting that requests do appear to be down in some places.

Among them is Wigan, where the council has opted to extend the application deadline to mid-April having so far had just 35 requests, while Glasgow is one of three areas in Scotland to not have received a single application despite the royal family's close ties with the country.

But rather than being any form of royal snub - there are a number of reasons being suggested as to why street parties might not be seen in such great numbers this year.

These include the ongoing cost of living crisis and sky-high inflation rates that are making people reluctant to host events people may not be able to afford to join in with, 'organiser apathy' among those that took responsibility for events in their communities last year combined with a much larger appetite in 2022 for social gatherings after so much social distancing and separation caused by Covid-19.