Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, has publicly defended the overnight "Farage Fest" party held on the night of the Clacton by-election, telling the BBC: "it was a private party and it was a good party".

Tendring District Council said its investigation was continuing into whether the event, at Great Oakley Airfield in Essex on the night of 13–14 August, was unlawful. The council refused a Late Temporary Event Notice for the party because the application arrived outside the statutory deadline, and served a counter-notice, meaning no authorisation was granted.

Tice's intervention, in remarks reported by the BBC on Tuesday, is the first time a senior Reform figure has put his name to a defence of the event, which the party has previously addressed only through a spokesperson. Asked whether he was worried about the possibility of prosecution, the MP for Boston and Skegness said: "Are we not allowed parties these days? Are we so boring and dull that we're not allowed parties?"

He told the broadcaster that voters were more concerned about solar farms and plans for a 114-mile (185km) route of pylons than "whether or not someone had a glass of wine at some party in the middle of the night". The BBC did not name the pylon scheme.

The quotations have been reported by the BBC alone.

The invitation-only event, dubbed "Clactonbury" by Nigel Farage from the stage, ran through the night of the by-election, at which he was returned as MP for Clacton with 22,239 votes, a 63.3 per cent share, according to the parliamentary record. Farage did not attend the count where he was declared the winner. Ben Sherriff, Reform UK's head of conference services, wrote on LinkedIn on 17 August that the party had "welcomed 600 people and operated from 11pm doors open through to an 11am site close".

The BBC has reported that the party featured live music, alcohol and a Ferris wheel, and that supporters in the constituency who had displayed posters and placards were sent letters inviting them to attend on payment of an entry fee, with camping and parking free.

Setting out the council's position last month, Lisa Hastings, its corporate director for law and governance, said: "This notice was refused, and a counter-notice served, as it was not submitted within the statutory timescales required under the Licensing Act 2003. No authorisation was therefore granted under a Late Temporary Event Notice for the event."

She added that because the matter might now involve potential enforcement considerations, the authority was unable to comment further on ongoing or potential investigations by licensing or other council departments.

Temporary event notices are a light-touch mechanism under the Licensing Act 2003 for one-off events involving licensable activity such as the sale of alcohol. A standard notice must reach the licensing authority at least 10 working days before the event, and a late notice at least five.

Reform UK has said it is "confident that no rules were broken and the event was conducted in accordance with the law". The party has said the event was invite-only and private, that no activity took place requiring authorisation, and that the late notice was submitted on a precautionary basis without reliance being placed on it.

No one has been arrested or charged, and the council has reached no conclusion. It has not said publicly when the notice was submitted, or by how much it missed the deadline.