Police braced for festival's closing night

Published 29 Aug 2010 17:30 0 Comments

POLICE have pledged to snuff out any yobbish behaviour and trouble tonight (Sunday) on the final day of the Reading Festival.

Officers will be patrolling the campsite to ensure there is no repeat of last year's troubles where gangs caused mayhem by burning tents and intimidating other revellers.

Chief inspector Les Stone said: "The Sunday night of the event is traditionally a busy time but we have extra resources on this year and we will be working in partnership with the organisers to hopefully reduce the disorder levels that we saw last year."

Meanwhile crime continues to rise on last year with 311 recorded incidents by 4.45pm today compared to 296 last year. These include 113 tent thefts, 84 thefts from the person and 50 people caught in possession of cannabis. Officers have made 65 arrests.

Ch Insp Stone, added: "I'm disappointed that we continue to have high numbers of thefts from tents.

"However, the policing operation appears to be going well so far. We have had particular success targeting pick pockets, reducing robberies from last year's levels and proactively dealing with anti-social behaviour."

Tweet

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our News archives.

Follow @rdgchronicle