Glastonbury festival gets cautious go-ahead

Organisers of Britain's Glastonbury festival today welcomed news that police will not object to their application for a licence to hold the event later this year.

Problems with gatecrashers had caused concern about security and safety at the event, which is held at Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset, and it did not go ahead last year.

Organiser Michael Eavis urged people to act responsibly or risk the end of the popular event which attracts thousands of music fans.

He said: ‘‘People cannot come without tickets. The show will definitely not continue without that hard and fast guarantee. It seems we may be given one last chance to see if we can control the numbers.’’

Mendip District Council’s regulatory board is due to decide whether to grant a licence to the event when it meets on Thursday and in a report to the meeting Avon and Somerset police have said that they do not object to the application.

But the police report does raise a number of concerns, including the delivery of promises and proposals in the application and how non-ticket holders would be dissuaded from arriving.

It states: ‘‘The police’s view is that the prime responsibility for dealing with non ticket holders and unauthorised camping lies with the organiser of the event and with the local authority.’’

Mr Eavis said fencing costing £1m (€1.6) would be used if the festival went ahead.

He said: ‘‘This is great news - we are very pleased. We have had lots of discussions and ups and downs, but now finally the police have come in our favour.

‘‘I am very pleased because it makes it easier for the licensing authority to actually run with it. I am fairly confident that we will get a positive result on Thursday.’’

He warned that gatecrashers were risking the end of the event, not only as entertainment but also as a source of important charity work around the world.

Glastonbury Festival Ltd has applied for a three-day licence from June 28 to 30 for a total of 140,000 tickets, an increase on previous years.

The organisers say this is necessary to help fund extra security measures.