PINEAPPLES have been banned from this year's Reading and Leeds Festivals.

The fruit appears on a list of barred items including weapons, drones and fireworks.

They will not be allowed into either the arena or the campsite when the music event takes place later this month.

It is thought to be because organisers are worried that fans of the band Glass Animals could take pineapples to see them perform.

The group's song Pork Soda mentions "pineapples in my head" and fans have previously carried the fruit to their gigs.

Reading and Leeds Festivals take place across the August Bank Holiday weekend.

100,000 revellers will descend on Reading Festival this year and residents are being reminded to plan ahead so they don’t get caught out by the festival jams.

About 70,000 weekend tickets have been sold with the remaining day tickets going fast.

Roads will be busy throughout next week, but congestion is expected to peak from Wednesday, August 23 Residents who need to get around town should consider their journey carefully.

Tony Page, Reading’s lead member for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport, said: “The Reading Festival is a fantastic and well-established event which brings with it many thousands of visitors and every August provides a huge boost for local businesses and the town’s economy.

“Working alongside Festival Republic, the Council has built up many years of experience of hosting the event. While the town is of course always very busy, I think the majority of residents would agree it is well organised and that congestion is not as bad as it was in the early years when the town would regularly gridlock.

“Those improvements are only possible with the help of local residents and, as always, we strongly advise people to plan for the inevitable delays that will occur with nearly 100,000 people attending Reading Festival this year.

“Using public transport is very often the best and quickest option during festival time.”

Acts including Muse, Eminem, Kasabian and Major Lazer are on the bill this year.