Thousands of music fans headed to Creamfields

 

Dance music fans headed to Cheshire over the Bank Holiday weekend for Creamfields 2013.

Cheshire Police worked closely with the organisers of the event to ensure it ran safely and smoothly − and to minimise any impact on the local community.

Around 58,000 music fans from across the UK and further a field attended the event across the weekend − the majority of these chose to camp out on the site.

Inspector Stewart Sheer, who has been involved in the planning the policing of the event said, "I am really pleased with how the policing operation for this year’s event went.  This is the eighth time that Cheshire has hosted the Creamfields music festival and I am grateful for all the continued hard work of our officers and staff and of the police planning team. 

"Cheshire Police once again worked closely alongside the organisers of the event to build on the success of previous events.  Our main aim was to ensure the safety of festival goers and to minimise disruption for the local community.

"As in previous years, there was really good co-operation between the organisers and all of the partner agencies, which resulted in a highly successful event for all concerned.

"As a result of meticulous planning, a high-profile police presence and a proactive approach by police and the organisers, a good natured crowd were once again able to enjoy it safely."

A dedicated team involving police officers and police staff have been involved in the planning process for months.

Plans were put in place to deal with everything from security and traffic to noise and any issues in the local community.  The plans were put in place in conjunction with the organisers, the two local authorities and other agencies as well as in consultation with local residents.

The policing operation started on Friday 23rd August with the majority of festival goers heading to the site on Friday morning.

Officers were assigned a variety of roles throughout the course of the weekend.  Within the site officers carried out a variety of tasks − including dealing with any incidents of crime and disorder, regularly patrolling the campsite to provide reassurance to campers and to deter thieves and supporting the security staff.

Externally, officers were involved with traffic management and policing in the local community that surrounds the site. 

Local policing inspectors worked throughout the course of the weekend with a team of dedicated community officers to deal with any issues that arose and to minimise any disruption to local residents.
A total of 82 people were arrested over the weekend.  Of those arrested, 65 were in relation to drugs offences and the other 17 were for a variety of offences including assault, criminal damage and public order.

Festival goers were once again warned before the event that positive action would be taken against anyone caught carrying drugs or weapons.

Searches were a condition of entry and festival goers were asked to place any drugs or weapons in the bins provided at the entrance to the event arena.

Anyone found with drugs or weapons, having not placed them into the bins, were dealt with by police.  A total of 47 people received a caution on site − 37 of those were for possession of class A drugs, the rest were street warnings for possession of Cannabis.

Due to the festival being a 3 day event with camping festival goers were once again urged to keep their valuables safe and use the secure cloakroom on site, which was provided by the event organiser.
There were 39 thefts reported to police during the event − 15 thefts from tents and 24 other thefts.

There were a few problems with traffic heading to the site on Friday and Saturday morning − with some congestion on the M56 and on local roads, which caused some delays for festival goers trying to get to the site.  But overall, drivers listened to the advice they were given and followed the official routes.

Cheshire Police once again worked closely with the organisers of the music festival to minimise the impact of the event on local residents.

Over the weekend local policing inspectors Sarah Heath, of Warrington South NPU, and Inspector Barry Brown, of Runcorn NPU, were on hand with a team of dedicated community officers to deal with any issues arising from the event.

Any policing issues or concerns that were raised were fed back to the community beat managers within the local villages.

Inspector Sarah Heath said:  "The team of dedicated community officers responded to any calls from local residents and visited anyone who had any issues or concerns. 

"I would once again like to thank members of the community for their co-operation and understanding prior to and throughout the event."