Portsmouth Is UK's Street Party Capital

A total of 3,500 applications for street parties to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee have been received so far by councils around the country, the Local Government Association (LGA) has announced.

Portsmouth is the leading city outside of London having received 20 applications and Richmond is leading the way in London with 31.

The LGA predicts that combined with the number of events planned in gardens, parks, pubs, village greens and town squares, the scale of the celebrations is likely to be greater than that of last year's royal wedding.

The success of parties held last year is believed to have fuelled the enthusiasm for further events during the long weekend in June.

Hertfordshire has received, at 47, the highest number of road closure applications followed closely by Nottinghamshire at 45.

Councils in England and Wales received about 5,500 road closure applications for last April's Royal Wedding but by this stage of the year they had only received a handful compared to the 3,500 received this year.

Councillor Flick Rea, chair of the LGA's culture, tourism and sport board, said:

''Councils told us back in January they were surprised by how many inquiries they were receiving from residents wanting to celebrate diamond jubilee weekend.

''This groundswell of enthusiasm is now turning into formal applications at a rate well beyond that of the royal wedding.

"Residents are telling us they had such a great time at street parties last year that they want to hold one again, and many of those who didn't get involved in the community celebrations don't want to miss out this time round.

''Bringing communities together is something councils see as one of their key roles so it's fantastic that diamond jubilee weekend looks set to see people everywhere coming together to enjoy a good old knees-up.

''Britain's street party tradition has been well and truly resurrected and people are already planning to dust down their fold-out tables and unpack the bunting.

''As they did for the royal wedding, councils are trying to make organising street parties as easy as possible.

''Straightforward guidance is readily available from council offices and online, along with simple application forms.

''Many councils have waived road closure fees where possible, others are supplying party packs and many handing out grants to support organisers.

''There will of course be cases where a genuine concern means a proposed celebration may not be able to go ahead, but through common sense and talking to each other councils and residents should be able to find amicable solutions to make a street party happen.''