With up to 60,000 people anticipated to attend V Festival, Essex Police has told festival goers to keep themselves and their property safe.

The festival begins on Friday, August 18, at Hylands Park, Chelmsford.

The constabulary is working with the festival organisers, who have responsibility for safety and security at the festival site, and other partners on plans for the event.

The work has included assessing the level of risk around crime and disorder and well-drilled plans are in place to deal with the unlikely event of a major incident.

• Familiarise yourself with the V Festival line up here.

Deputy Chief Constable BJ Harrington said: “If you are coming to V Festival in Chelmsford you can expect to have a great time in a safe environment.

“Downloading the V Festival app will give information and advice on all sorts of your festival experience, including safety.”

“We are supporting the event organiser’s safety and security operation at the festival site and we have extra police resources across the county for what will be a busy weekend and will make sure any serious incidents are dealt with quickly to keep festival goers safe.

“We have worked with the organisers to advise and guide their security plan as well and will carry out police operations to disrupt the activities of people we believe are intent on attending V festival to commit crime.

“We are confident that there is an extensive security operation and Essex Police will be working together to make sure anyone causing trouble inside the site will very quickly find themselves outside of it and in the care and attention of police officers.”

Armed police officers will be visible to people on their way to the festival site for safety and reassurance.

Anyone who experiences crime at the festival or sees something concerning, should call Essex Police on 101 or call 999 in an emergency.

For more information about the festival visit here.