A businesswoman says she has been left ruined by the Beachdown debacle.

Filomena Geoghegan is to have her cappuccino van repossessed next month after she lost a hoped for £4,000 in profits as well as her £250 deposit when the Bank Holiday music festival was called off at the last minute.

Miss Geoghegan, who runs The Little Pink Coffee Company, was initially thrown into thousands of pounds worth of debt when the Beachdown directors cancelled their stage at the Brighton Fringe Festival in May.

The 46-year-old was relying on selling hot drinks at the festival itself this weekend to pay the debts she incurred.

But when that was called off on Wednesday morning she says her company, KFL Leisure, was left having to be closed.

Miss Geoghegan, of Rowe Avenue, Peacehaven, said it had been her dream to run a coffee van, which she was finally able to get last year.

But despite having paid £7,500 for it on a lease-to-buy basis, she now cannot afford to pay next month’s rent and the vehicle will be repossessed.

She said: “The big let down was in May when I lost a potential £5,000 in profits. But I stayed positive and paid £250 upfront for a plot at the actual festival in the hope I could make enough to pay the arrears and carry on the lease on my van.

“Now it's been cancelled I have no way of carrying on. I can't possible pay the £617 rent due on the van next month.”

Miss Geoghegan, who works full time in a restaurant as well as running her van, said she had found it galling to hear the Beachdown directors talking about having to remortgage their homes when some people had lost their livelihoods.

She said: “They knew the risks and the financial situation they were in and they still took people's money.

“I have had no word that I will get my £250 back from them.

“What bugs me the most is that then you hear them weeping about how they're going to lose their homes, but we're going to lose our business – which in my case was also my dream.”

Miss Geoghegan found out the festival was off at 9pm on Tuesday evening and has not had any contact with the organisers since.

She said: “Knowing what we know now, I would not have taken the risk they took at other people's expense.

“I can only hope organisers of another event come forward and offer me a plot out of generosity to help me through this.”