MP turns up the heat on Reading Festival organisers

Martin Salter the MP for Reading West is due to hold talks with Reading Festival organisers and Police after the disgraceful behaviour of an 'angry mob' of festival-goers on the Sunday night who started blazes, and set fire to tents.

Martin Salter, MP for Reading West, will meet Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn and officers after fires blazed on the campsite for the second year running.

Mr Salter's office has said that drunken mobs had been looking for "anything to throw on their bonfires to keep them burning" and this included personal property and tents. The MP has been contacted by several attendees of the festival after the event "who stayed up all night on the campsite guarding their tents and possessions", said a spokesperson at his office tells the BBC in a news article (here).

Mr Salter is meeting with the Police and festival organisers to question the crowd safety and security of the event after seeing footage of the fires on YouTube. The MP will be asking organisers to agree to a complete ban on 'ad hoc camp fires' at the event.

Mr Salter told the BBC,

"I was less than impressed by what appeared to be a somewhat cavalier attitude by the police and the festival organisers to the very many complaints and concerns that were raised by long-standing festival fans following the disgraceful scenes on the Sunday night. However I am pleased that finally the authorities now appear to be taking these issues seriously."

Superintendent Stuart Greenfield, of Thames Valley Police, says in the BBC article,

"The last evening of the festival was particularly busy for police and festival security teams in terms of public disorder. We worked closely together in the face of some hostility to restore calm and order. We take the safety of festival-goers very seriously and early meetings are taking place with partners to review this year's event and to plan our response to the next festival."

The comment from the Superintendent would appear to in contrast to festival organiser Mevlin Benn's directly after the festival, when he played down the trouble, in an interview with local news site getreading (here) saying,

"It was my impression that the campsite was quieter this year than last year. As far as I know no loos were set fire to. They did try to set fire to a telegraph pole but that was about it. There certainly were fires on the campsite. They always light fires and I think some tents were thrown into the fires, but certainly not with anyone in them."

The Reading Festival boss's view is not one held by many of the regular festival attendees, who have been commenting about the atmosphere and behaviour of some festival goers who called themselves the 'angry mob' on the Sunday on eFestivals' Reading Festival forums.

Mr Salter who chaired the Reading Borough Council committee responsible for the return of the Reading Festival after a three-year absence in the 1980s, has also been quoted (here) as saying,

"I am now really worried that these minor riots are becoming both fashionable and an almost expected climax to the last night at the rock festival. It really is up to the police, council and festival organisers to take concerted action to root out the troublemakers and restore the reputation of Reading as one of the finest and safest music festivals in the world."

His opinion is echoed by many regular Reading Festival goers. The festival organisers Festival Republic have not responded to Mr Salter's comments.

eFestivals would like to point out that whilst the behaviour of festival goers was distressing to some campers on the Sunday, the trouble only occurred in the campsite on the last night. The atmosphere in the arena and during the festival weekend was very positive this year, and there was only a small area of the campsites which saw trouble this year.

Sunday night at the festival has however regularly seen trouble with some elements in some areas of the campsite setting fire to property, and making people with a more sensitive nature fear for their safety. There have been many comments on the eFestivals forums from regular Reading Festival goers saying that they won't camp on the Sunday night in future.

Reading Festival takes place on the bank holiday weekend, from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th August at Little Johns Farm, Richfield Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, with the sister event, Leeds Festival, taking place the same wekend at Bramham Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Early bird tickets are on sale priced at £175 for a weekend ticket, £70 a day ticket, and £9.50 for an early bird Thursday entry ticket. Campervan and Caravan permits cost £19.50 in advance and £30 on the gate. Car park passes are £4.50 in advance this year, or £10 on arrival. Over 18's wristband will be optional, but allow those that look young to not have to carry ID around all the time. Day tickets will be available at a later date.

To buy tickets for Reading, click here.

To buy tickets for Leeds, click here.

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