POLICE said an operation to combat crime at the Latitude Festival had gone “very well” with just 10 arrests and a similar number of thefts reported.

Jonathan Barnes

POLICE said an operation to combat crime at the Latitude Festival had gone “very well” with just 10 arrests and a similar number of thefts reported.

Officers arrested 10 people over the weekend in connection with theft, assault, driving and drugs offences.

But they said, while some crime reports were being taken, there had been fewer than 10 thefts reported over the four days - compared to more than 100 last year.

The drop in crime was partially attributed to preventative work of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) at the site.

Chief Superintendent Mark Cordell said: “At this stage we have only had a comparatively low level of crime reported to us - nowhere near the 100+ incidents of theft from tents reported last year.

“It appears to have gone very well, with good co-operation between police, the organisers and security personnel, but we believe one of the key reasons for the decrease was work done by PCSOs on the site on Thursday.

“A group of PCSOs visited the camp sites to distribute information to festival-goers giving them details of how to keep their items secure and encouraging them to sleep with their valuables inside their sleeping bags.”