THE future of a book festival in Haddington looks bleak after organisers confirmed they had no plans for it to return.

Lennoxlove Book Festival, which was last held in 2013, was cancelled last year after the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton’s decision to make Lennoxlove House, the event’s iconic venue from 2009 to 2013, their family home.

The annual winter festival, held in the historic house to the south of Haddington, welcomed tens of thousands of visitors to the county since it was launched in 2009.

Famous names such as JK Rowling, Ian Rankin, Kate Adie, Alexander McCall Smith and Sir Chris Bonington all appeared at the festival.

The decision to not hold a festival in 2014 was taken last January.

At that time, the directors of Lennoxlove Book Festival said they would work in partnership with East Lothian Council to look at “other opportunities for the future”, with a view to an event being held in 2015.

However, this week, a spokeswoman for the organisers said: “After considerable deliberation, Lennoxlove Book Festival definitely won’t be returning, following the change of status at Lennoxlove House, which has ceased to operate as a venue. “The other commitments of the festival organisers mean that future plans for an alternative to Lennoxlove Book Festival are on hold for the foreseeable future.” Councillor John McMillan, East Lothian Council’s economic development spokesman, was disappointed to see the event come to an end.

He said: “It is a sad blow for not only the county but for Scotland.

“It was a great venue and some real headline authors appeared, so it is sad.

“We have had a few offers of people looking to replace it and we would certainly work with anybody looking to run a festival, like that at Cockenzie and CoastWord [in Dunbar].” Mr McMillan praised the efforts of those involved in running Lennoxlove Festival and felt there was a gap in the market for another book festival.

Details for CoastWord are already being put together, with the festival to be held between May 22 and 24 in Dunbar.