The Download Festival - which took place across the weekend at Donington Park, Leicestershire - ended in touble.
Festival Director Stuart Galbraith, Managing Director of Live Nation Music UK said: "There were 75,000 people per day at the event, and up until last night, there had been no major incidents over the weekend. The trouble involved a small number of otherwise fantastic customers who attended this massively successful event. This type of trouble is very rare and is completely out of character for Download fans."
A number of fires in the camp site areas were lit, and there was resistance to both security officers and the police on site with missiles being thrown as they tried to deal with the incident. Officers detained around a dozen people for a variety of offences including assault and damage. There are not thought to have been any serious injuries to fans.
Sadly, this incident isn't out of character for some rock fans. Trouble has flared at the end of Leeds festival for a number of years, as a small number of morons have gone on the rampage, putting other festival go-ers in danger as well as putting the future of festivals at risk.
Superintendent Paul Smith, of the Leicestershire Constabulary’s North Area, said: “The Festival has been relatively trouble-free all weekend and this incident has marred an otherwise peaceful and enjoyable event. The disorder involved a number of people and it is not clear at thus early stage what sparked the trouble. A full investigation is already under way to establish exactly what happened and to assess the extent of crime and the identity of any offenders."
He continued, "Officers and organisers are speaking to people who are still on site to take witness statements to help piece together last night’s events. We know that most people were not involved in the trouble but they may have important information so we are appealing to anyone who witnessed the disorder and anyone who may have been the victim of crime to come forward and talk to us as soon as possible. Some people may have recorded events on their mobile phones and this evidence could prove vital to our investigation. Anyone who has footage or information is asked to get in touch with us."
Download Festival organisers are working jointly with local police and are currently looking at CCTV footage in order to ascertain the culprits. Discussions are under way regarding the implementation of preventive measures against individuals for future events.
eFestivals will have more photos, as well as reviews of acts across the weekend online shortly.
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