A Cotswolds live music venue built as a tribute to a teacher has lost its appeal against being closed.

Berrybank Park was opened in 2022 next to the village of Oddington near Moreton-In-Marsh by Keith Cockell as a memorial to his late wife Janet.

But the venue, which includes a sunken amphitheatre excavated into an open field, will now have be erased from the landscape.

The Planning Inspectorate has ruled that the harm to the protected piece of countryside outweighed any social or economic benefit.

The site sits within Cotswold National Landscape and over two summers the site was visited by more than 12,000 people who watched performances such as Julius Caesar by the Globe Theatre.

Residents complained events held there ruined the tranquillity of the area and made their lives "unbearable".

Mr Cockell fought to keep it open and said the aim was to "bring happy days to my friends and neighbours when there have been so many unhappy ones."

The idea for the venue came to him from the "depths of despair' after his wife lost a 20 year battle with cancer during the pandemic.

However, Cotswold District Council threw out two retrospective planning applications  for the site last September and said it would have to shut.

Councillors said it was "regrettable" that the venue was running without planning approval and that it was "out of place" in the small Cotswolds village.

The Planning Inspectorate has now dismissed an appeal to change of use of the land from agricultural to outdoor live performance venue with a sunken amphitheatre, kitchen pod, pavilion base and temporary car parking.

A report by the inspector said: "Despite being covered with grass, the landform has an engineered appearance and is heavily at odds with the natural and gentle slopes of the site and the wider area, and its harmful effects would be long lasting."

While the venue would deliver "social and economic benefits" and had received local support, the inspector concluded this did not outweigh the harm to the area.

"The proposal would create concentrations of significant activity associated with performances including noise, pedestrian and vehicular movements across much of the site, causing harm to its tranquil character and feelings of remoteness," added the report.

Mr Cockell said of the appeal decision: "Unfortunately the inspector is of the view that the amphitheatre is an engineered structure and must be reinstated with the natural contours of the meadow. He has not sighted any other elements that are his reasons for dismissing the appeal."

He added: "It is common law to have events on private land for a maximum of 28 days. The events were sponsored by my not-for-profit organisation, The Fairliving Foundation, which had planned to work with the Chipping Norton Theatre, providing a venue for their summer seasons.

"The new landowner will now have to decide on the future of the venue."

He sold the site to friend Gavin Johnston earlier this year.