Village split on telling George Michael fans to go-go away

RESIDENTS in the rural Oxfordshire village of Goring-on-Thames are bitterly divided over allowing George Michael fans to hold an annual party celebrating the late singer.

Fans have gathered in the riverside village, a few miles from the Royal Regatta town of Henley-on-Thames, every year since Michael was found dead in his £5million home, Mill Cottage, there on Christmas Day in 2016.

Hundreds of people attended last year’s event to celebrate the singer’s 55th birthday on June 25.

It was organised by fan groups and included a DJ playing Michael’s hits and a series of tribute concerts.

Residents said that the “inappropriate” celebration brought noise, litter, congestion and drunken behaviour – forcing the parish council to launch a public consultation on whether this year’s event should go ahead.

It received more than 600 submissions, with 27 per cent of residents stating that they “strongly object” to the idea of a party, with 24 per cent saying they “strongly support” it.

“George lived a quiet life here. If that is what he wanted, then why are his fans not respecting that?” parish council chairman Kevin Bulmer told The Sunday Telegraph.

The council offered the fans a new location on Sheepcot recreation ground, instead of the Rectory Gardens off the High Street, where the party was held previously.

But they declined the offer, saying they will stage an “informal picnic” elsewhere in the village over the weekend of June 22 and 23. “I’m very disappointed that the village’s gracious response has basically been thrown back in our faces,” Mr Bulmer said.