Official LGO Response to various issues

[Flounder]

Direct from LGO Towers.....

EIID 08 was a fantastic event with a friendly vibe. We are often told that as a festival we have the friendliest punters, the friendliest staff and the most relaxed atmosphere of any small festival. Lost property is often handed in, many people who lost phones and wallets with money in this year have been reunited with their possessions, people look out for one another, children feel safe, parents feel safe, punters feel safe and the organisers feel safe.

The LGO team take any allegations made very seriously and would like to respond to some of the allegations and assumptions that have been made on this message board.

EIID is a family friendly event with a capacity of 5000

The organisers had no reports of drug dealing at EIID 08.

The organisers had half a dozen reports of tent theft at EIID 08 which is extremely low.

Police were called to the EIID site on two occassions this year.

1. Police were called to the EIID site and made one arrest on Saturday

2. Police were called to the EIID site on Sunday morning in response to an allegation, which turned out to be unfounded. These Police Officers carry crime fighting equipment, including pepper spray, stab vests for protection and Tazer guns. No arrests were made.

EIID utilised the security firm ESP security for both 2007 and 2008.

ESP security were given the authority to use dogs to patrol the woods at night. This was agreed after discussion with the organisers to address problems raised in 2007.

ESP security use stab vests for their own protection. Unfortunately this is becoming the norm for security whether working in a pub, club or festival.

Only security officers who are qualified to use handcuffs, may use handcuffs as a form of restraint.

A number of ESP security officers with the relevant qualifications carried handcuffs at EIID 08.

It is the norm for qualified security at festivals to carry handcuffs – visible or not.

Security were authorised to clear the main bar at 3.00am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in order to keep to license agreements stated by the council. Dogs were not authorized for use in this.

Nobody was bitten by an ESP dog at EIID 08

Regarding the incident in the bar – its has been very difficult to gain a clear picture of exactly what has happened due to the conflicting nature of the reports from all angles. We have however gained an overall idea of what occurred and the important end result of this is that dogs will not be used on the festival site again. LGO would like to thank everyone, no matter what their opinion, who has contributed information on this.

LGO cannot comment on or be responsible/accountable for the actions of individual security officers or complainants.

Any complaints received will be investigated internally between LGO, ESP security and the complainants

We hope that this answers some of the concerns raised on this thread and thank those who have given clear information, from whatever angle, upon allegations made.

If you have any complaints, queries or require further resolution please contact the organisers directly on [email protected]

We've had an overwhelming positive response from people there ( bands, workers, punters etc) even those who were involved in Sundays site clearance, saying what a great time they had over the weekend. We appreciate all feedback given, once again thank everyone for coming along and here's to one of the best weekends that you can have in a field in Dorset.

[elfskins back]

I would like to thank Flounder, LGO and the Organisers of EIID for their swift response, decisions and action on this issue.

I hear on the Grapevine that many other Festivals are reviewing their policies on Security in light of this incident.

I hope a line has been drawn in the sand.

Maybe this had to happen at Endorse it, maybe it was one of the only places that people would stand up and say NO !!!

Thank you to everyone who was actually there at the time who posted giving the same version of events.

Onwards and Upwards.

I hope that this time next year all we have to complain about is Sunburn, Heatstroke and lack of drinking water.