Glastonbury drug arrests

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Glastonbury festival was the subject of a police crackdown yesterday as revellers heading to the site were arrested for drug offences.

34 arrests have been made for drug offences, 4 for possession with intent to supply.

Police have given details of a two-day operation targeting gig-goers heading to Glastonbury from Paddington Station in London.

Police were using sniffer dogs and anyone whose luggage sparked interest from the dogs was stopped and searched.

At the previous Glastonbury festival in 2005, 183 drugs offences were reported, mainly for cannabis and ecstasy possession.

GLASTONBURY 9AM SNAPSHOT
148,000 people on site
30,000 cars in car park
13 thefts from tents
12 people tried jumping over the fence
707 casualties

After successfully stamping out gatecrashers, police and festival security have now turned their attention to drugs.

Sniffer dogs have been deployed at train stations and on coaches, while random bag searches are taking place at festival gates.

The campsites are packed after the capacity was raised to 177,500 - 27,500 more than the last festival in 2005.

Photo tickets, sniffer dogs, CCTV and bag searches are among the measures being taken to beat touts and crime.

Police have also laid traps for tent thieves, erecting "covert capture tents" equipped with cameras.

Fans who arrived early have had the chance to check out the festival's major new addition, an area called The Park.

It boasts music stages, a tipi village, a silent disco and a 12-metre viewing tower with telescopes.

Another new feature is an installation by cult artist Banksy, a sculpture made out of portable toilets arranged in the manner of an ancient stone circle.

Fittingly for a work by Banksy - who made his name as a graffiti artist - revellers have already spray-painted all over the new creation.

Glastonbury is also known for its environmental conscience and fundraising, and Thursday also saw the launch of the I Count climate change campaign.

Festival founder Michael Eavis launched the drive to get 100,000 people to sign up to the commitment to reduce their carbon footprints.

Laura Fishwick, 19, from Leeds, gave the festival the thumbs-up on her first visit. "This has totally blown me away," she said.

"I thought it would be smaller and more wild, but everyone's really friendly and [it is] really safe," she said.

Twenty-four-year-old Angus Vine said: "Even at this stage, you can tell it's more advanced than any other festival around.

"It's very well managed. The weather's the only thing they can't control."

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