A KIDS' festival with an “enchanted magical kingdom” was last night being investigated by trading standards after families turned up to discover a shambolic “disgusting mess”.

Stunned parents paying £25 a ticket said the Monstrous Festival’s star attraction unicorn was actually “a frightened horse with a cone stuck on its head”.

Its big draw 'The Beast' was billed as the world’s largest inflatable obstacle course but livid mums and dads said it was actually “half the size”.

And face painting was so bad one little girl was left in tears after queuing for 40 minutes to be told she could only have a “small flower” as it was the only design the artist knew.

One angry dad branded the attraction, held in the Printworks near Rotherhithe, south east London, as “Monstrous rip off, monstrous lies, monstrous chaos, complete and utter monstrous sh***”.

Furious parent Paul Hopkinson, 40, from Chertsey, Surrey, even set up an online forum for fellow victims to vent their frustrations. He said: “I don’t know how they get away with it.

“Maybe there is something in the small print that says: ‘We reserve the right to say we will have circus skills, but then just leave a couple of juggling balls in the corner of a dirty old warehouse.’ It was a total joke and not as advertised.”

Latifah Idris-Ligali said: “The whole thing was a disgusting mess. The venue was an awful industrial estate. Food was scarce and what was there, consisted of an inappropriate selection for children.

“Staff were miserable and rude. The queues were eye-watering. It was generally an event that was a waste of time and money.”

Rosina Moghal added: “My daughter was also left in tears after a 40 minute queue for face painting because the lady told her they were only allowed to paint a small flower and she knew no other designs.

James Webster said his family had been excited before the Sunday attraction, only to have been let down on the day.

He added: “Absolute shambles of an event. I have two very upset children who had been looking forward to this for weeks.”

Alex Grover posted a heartbreaking comment after taking his kids to the festival.

He said: “I’m so sad. We saved for ages for our four children aged between one and 15 to attend this.

“We can’t afford a holiday this year so thought this might sort of make up for it.

“We’ve been ripped off. This must be the worst thing I’ve ever taken my children to. Feel like crying.”

Gino Taiani fumed: “Monstrous rip off, monstrous chaos, complete and utter monstrous sh*** no other words for it.

“Ripped off as have many others. Thank god it was in London so we managed to take the kids elsewhere to make up for the poor show from Monstrous.”

And Stacey Andrews spoke for hundreds visiting the forum when she said she felt she had been conned.

She said: “Promised a magical day for families. It was disgusting. I paid £70 for me and my three children. My two year old was hurt twice."

Once resolving in a swollen eye. There was hardly any staff. It was dark and dirty.

“Very poorly organised. Was made to arrive 30 minutes early to stand in the rain with children. The "beast" was the biggest reason my eldest wanted to go and it was half the size as pictured online.

"The game room didn't have what they promised and the magical unicorn... Well that was laughable.”

Businessman Dave Winney is the director of the festival and the website advertising the event had been changed yesterday from its original form.

On Monday the “Our story” page only had a link back in a circle to the homepage and a very brief description, but days earlier it contained boasts about incredible attractions on offer.

They included “a digital world with thousands of consoles for kids to play with”, “special guests from all your favourite TV channels” and “a land full of unicorns, mermaid and princess characters”.

Mr Winney is publicly listed on Companies House as director of three firms Wingord Limited, Big Bag Of Broken Dreams Limited and Winney Futures Limited.

He was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Last night Southwark Council – which covers the area the festival was held – confirmed it was now under investigation.

Cllr Peter John, Leader of Southwark Council, said: “I can confirm that the council’s trading standards team has received complaints and is currently investigating.”

A spokesperson for the festival admitted to The Sun there had been some “major issues” and promised to address all visitors’ concerns.

He added: “First of all we would like to thank all our guests, suppliers and staff who attended Monstrous Festival.

“This was our first year and whilst we worked hard to ensure the festival was successfully delivered, we did unfortunately have some major issues regarding queuing and the relocation of some of our activity.

“For that we are sincerely sorry. We are collating all feedback and currently in the process of ensuring that all our guests’ concerns are addressed as swiftly as possible.”