Big V Festival clean-up gets underway at Weston Park - with VIDEO and PICTURES
Less than 48 hours ago 70,000 people were rocking out to their favourite acts – now it's just a sea of abandoned tents and rubbish.
This is the aftermath of V Festival at Weston Park, and now various Rotary and Lions groups from around the region have come together to clear it.
Their efforts come after it was revealed by Staffordshire Police that more than 40 arrests were made during the festival mainly for drugs and violence offences.
But despite the number of arrests, double that of last year, the force declared the festival went ahead without major incidents or unrest.
There were 41 arrests over the weekend, including charges of drug dealing and possession as well as assault, theft and possession of an offensive weapon.
A force spokesman said: "In the last 24 hours of the festival we saw a similar number of arrests to the first two days.
"There were seven separate men arrested for possession with intent to supply, two men and one woman arrested for assault, one man arrested for assaulting an officer and one man for a public order offence.
"A further seven people were cautioned over the weekend for drugs possession, with their drugs destroyed and their wristband cut so that they could not enjoy the rest of the festival.
"In terms of reported crime, we are happy to report that we saw a 70 per cent reduction in the number of crime reports.
"The most common reports were drug offences, assault, thefts from tent and the person, and public order."
Superintendent Martin Brereton, commander for the V Festival operation, added: "Thank you to everyone who attended V Festival, barring an irresponsible few the event passed peacefully with thousands of people having the time of their lives.
"Our officers engaged with lots of members of the public, lots of selfies were taken and initial feedback has demonstrated that the public welcomed and were comforted by the visible presence of armed officers alongside unarmed officers.
“Our security operation was a fantastic success as we worked closely with the event organisers and partners to plan ahead and be prepared for every eventuality.
"Our unpredictable and extensive police deployment saw officers all over the site at different times, creating a safe and secure environment.”
Ironbridge Lions was among the groups collecting the tents at Weston Park following V Festival.
Past president Colin Thompson said: "For four hours yesterday and four hours today we'll be picking up the decent large tents that haven't been damaged or despoiled in any way, wrapping them up complete with poles and then sending them off to be sorted, washed and then shipped out to various places in the developing world.
"We only get two shots – then all the rest will then go to landfill. We'll only pick up a tiny fraction of the tents that are there across two of the fields. The rest will be bulldozed and taken away."
Mr Thompson said the first time he saw the leftover waste from V Festival it was a massive shock, but he's become "immune to it" now.
"It's the amazing waste of resources that strikes you," he said.
"It's a staggering site to see so many perfectly good tents left. Most of brand new, they buy them at the gate or online, use them for the weekend and then they go home. It's particularly shocking because some of these are eight men tents.
"Having talked to people that go to festivals, they view it as part of the price, much like how I'd pay for a hotel for a weekend. I don't expect to bring the hotel room back with me, and they don't expect to bring it back with them."
Mr Thompson said it was a simple way of giving back.
"It costs us nothing other than a bit of effort," he said. "It does an enormous amount of good."
