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London's highly anticipated version of Munich's Oktoberfest has been cancelled after unexpectedly large crowds turned up for the opening night, leaving organisers unable to cope.

Friday's afternoon drinking session of Oktoberfest London at Tobacco Dock was axed minutes before doors were due to open, leaving ticketholders angry at its collapse.

The Tobacco Dock venue today posted online: "*Important* Due to operational issues identified last night the decision has been made to cancel all further @OktoberFestLDN sessions."

Ticket holders are being advised to contact @OktoberfestLDN for details on how to get a refund.

London Oktoberfest, a separate event with a similar name, is still going ahead, its organisers confirmed.

Oktoberfest London's website was taken down this afternoon showing the following message: "Due to unforeseen circumstances the OktoberFest London event has been cancelled.

"The company is accessing the situation and further information will be provided as and when it becomes available.

"Ticket holders are requested to keep hold of their tickets for the event, and the company will inform all ticket holders of the procedure for claiming a refund as soon as possible."

At 12.50pm organisers posted on their Facebook page the event had been cancelled.

Tickets for the event cost £10, or £60 for a premium pass that guaranteed a seat.

VIP tables were also available at £1,000.

Friends of a charity worker who died in the summer branded the organisers "totally unprofessional" after their plans to attend in his memory were ruined.

Some 32 friends and relatives of Tom Moulton – including his mother – were due to attend on Saturday night to mark what would have been his 30th birthday, after his sudden and unexplained death in July. They had paid £3,000 for the Saturday night tickets and were today hastily arranging an alternative party in their home town of Southend-on-Sea in Essex.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Oktoberfest London event has been cancelled. The ticket holders are requested to keep hold of their... — OktoberFest London (@OktoberFestLDN) October 9, 2015

Mike Bromfield, 24, a colleague and housemate, said: "We're really disappointed. What happened last night was so poorly managed.

"It's totally unprofessional and the organisers have been very slow to react, they haven't done much to explain and they need to be doing something to compensate."

... tickets for the event, and the company will inform all ticket holders of the procedure for claiming a refund as soon as possible. — OktoberFest London (@OktoberFestLDN) October 9, 2015

James Potter, 44, had a VIP table for 10 booked for the afternoon OktoberFest session.

The surveyor, who works in London but lives in Esher, Surrey, said he was “hugely p***** off” after receiving notification the event had been cancelled at 11.22am when the session was due to start at midday.

OktoberFest London cancelled half an hour before it's due to open. wut. — Josh (@jo55_hhh) October 9, 2015

He said friends had been at the event the previous night and had told him it was massively oversubscribed – and the two security on the door “struggled with thousands of punters waiting to get in.”

He said: “I am now standing here at Wapping tube station and all my friends are en route. Some have come from Nottingham for this.

"We have a table for 10 VIP places booked and it has just been cancelled with no explanation. It cost us £600. It is unbelievable. Totally unbelievable. I am hugely p***** off.”

He added: “My friend went last night and said it was a nightmare. He said there was about 4,000 people outside waiting to get in and two security on the door.

"He gave up and went elsewhere because it was so bad. He had a £1,000 VIP table in there. So it must have been bad to leave that.”

Writing on Twitter this morning, Charles Fletcher said: “@OktoberFestLDN was appalling last night. £60 ticket, 1.5hr queue, beer mats flying. Barmaids to scared to go back in the room. Security said couldn't do anything as room too busy to get in. Had to leave after took 2 beer mats in the eye. Hundreds of people left angry at being ripped off. Tried to talk to Building Manager and he literally ran away!”

The event was backed by two of the traditional Munich Oktoberfest breweries, Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr.

On its website, organisers promised: “Over four days you can experience everything that makes Oktoberfest, held in the wooden halls of Tobacco Dock.

"We’ll have live music, full Oktoberfest decoration and thousands of people going crazy for the authentic Oktoberfest experience.

"Along with steins, you’ll get the best German food catered by the award-winning Herman Ze German.”

Bayern Munich at Oktoberfest 2015 11 show all Bayern Munich at Oktoberfest 2015 1/11 Super Mario Is Mario Gotze old enough to be drinking that? And why does he look like Indiana Jones when he's back at university? AFP/Getty Images 2/11 Not too Xabi Xabi Alonso attends the Oktoberfest festivities with Nagore Aramburo. Bongarts/Getty Images 3/11 Pep Talk Bayern's manager leads a toast. Perhaps he's just seen Arsenal's performance against Olympiakos? Bongarts/Getty Images 4/11 Lewa's got the look Robert Lewandowski exudes old-school fashion in shorts and long white socks. Bongarts/Getty Images 5/11 Thiago looked tidy The Spaniard has embraced Bayern traditions in his third season in Munich. Bongarts/Getty Images 6/11 The Fab Four Kingsley Coman, Douglas Costa, Medhi Benatia and Franck Ribery: the Bavarian boyband we never knew we wanted Bongarts/Getty Images 7/11 Karl-Heinz knocking back pints Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummeingge shares a drink with his wife Martina. Bongarts/Getty Images 8/11 They see me rolling Douglas Costa has started brightly at the Allianz Arena. But has he started brightly enough to justify using a pretzel as a steering wheel? Has anyone ever? Bongarts/Getty Images 9/11 Family fun Philip and Claudia Lahm brought their son Julian along to the festivities. Bongarts/Getty Images 10/11 It must be love Star striker Robert Lewandowski shares a not-so private moment with Anna Stachurska. Bongarts/Getty Images 11/11 Mullering the drinks Thomas Muller looks to be making the most of the free-flowing beer at Oktoberfest. Bongarts/Getty Images 1/11 Super Mario Is Mario Gotze old enough to be drinking that? And why does he look like Indiana Jones when he's back at university? AFP/Getty Images 2/11 Not too Xabi Xabi Alonso attends the Oktoberfest festivities with Nagore Aramburo. Bongarts/Getty Images 3/11 Pep Talk Bayern's manager leads a toast. Perhaps he's just seen Arsenal's performance against Olympiakos? Bongarts/Getty Images 4/11 Lewa's got the look Robert Lewandowski exudes old-school fashion in shorts and long white socks. Bongarts/Getty Images 5/11 Thiago looked tidy The Spaniard has embraced Bayern traditions in his third season in Munich. Bongarts/Getty Images 6/11 The Fab Four Kingsley Coman, Douglas Costa, Medhi Benatia and Franck Ribery: the Bavarian boyband we never knew we wanted Bongarts/Getty Images 7/11 Karl-Heinz knocking back pints Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummeingge shares a drink with his wife Martina. Bongarts/Getty Images 8/11 They see me rolling Douglas Costa has started brightly at the Allianz Arena. But has he started brightly enough to justify using a pretzel as a steering wheel? Has anyone ever? Bongarts/Getty Images 9/11 Family fun Philip and Claudia Lahm brought their son Julian along to the festivities. Bongarts/Getty Images 10/11 It must be love Star striker Robert Lewandowski shares a not-so private moment with Anna Stachurska. Bongarts/Getty Images 11/11 Mullering the drinks Thomas Muller looks to be making the most of the free-flowing beer at Oktoberfest. Bongarts/Getty Images

The original Oktoberfest, which finished last Sunday in the Bavarian capital, attracted 5.9m visitors and 7.7m litres of beer were drunk.