Express & Star

V Festival day one: Thousands party at Weston Park - with PICTURES

Thousands of revellers have arrived at the V Festival at Weston Park today to see acts such as Jay-Z, Stormzy and Ellie Goulding.

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Crowds party at V Festival

There has been congestion throughout the morning on routes surrounding the festival site - which opened to crowds on Friday, with many arriving on Saturday morning.

Live updates from the day

Those heading to the festival on Friday night experienced delays on their approach to the event, with tailbacks on the A5 between A41 at Pickmere Island and the A449 at Gailey.

Once inside the site, revellers took to social media to complain over delays on getting into the campsite due to bag searches.

Organisers said they were conducting 'strict' bag searches this year to help improve safety, but those caught up in the long queues claimed that there was not enough security staff to cope with the amount of checks needed.

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Daniel Smith, 25, from Liverpool, said he queued for more than, said four hours to get into the campsite and said: "I understand they need to search people but they should hire more staff."

As more complaints came in on social media, organisers asked people to be patient, with a post from the official V Festival account reading: "Please be patient entering the campsites, we are conducting strict and thorough bag searches and there may be some delay."

Despite the issues getting to and into the site, there was plenty of good will for the artists lined up to play this years V Festival, with music fans flocking to Staffordshire in their droves to catch a glimpse of some of the biggest music acts in the world.

Friends Nathan Gould and Will Nicholls, both aged 17 and from Uttoxeter, pointed out the booking of Stormzy, whose debut album Gang Signs and Prayer went to number one earlier this year, as a major attraction.

Nathan said: "We have come to have a good time and enjoy the music, last year we went to Y-Not Festival and we wanted to go one bigger this year.

"Stormzy is the man, that's who we really want to see, I think that is going to be the same as a lot of people."