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31 Aug 2010
Thousands of music fans descended on Cheshire over the
Bank Holiday weekend as they headed to the
Creamfields dance music festival.
Cheshire Police worked closely with the organisers of the
two-day event to ensure it ran safely and smoothly - and to
minimise any impact on the local community.
Around 40,000 music fans from across the UK and
further a field attended the event each day - with the
majority of ticketholders choosing to camp on the site
overnight.
There were no reports of any serious incidents
during the music festival, which took place on Saturday and Sunday
(August 28th and 29th).
Nicola Linder, who was part of this year’s planning team, said:
“We are once again extremely pleased with the policing operation
for this year’s Creamfields music festival. We worked closely
alongside the organisers of the event to build on the success of
last year. Our main aim was to ensure the safety of festival goers
and to minimise disruption for the local community.
"We are pleased with the results-especially given the fact that
there were an extra 10,000 people attending the event this year and
the fact the weather improved substantially on the Sunday meaning
the majority of people chose to camp out for a second night rather
than head home.
“There were no reports of any serious incidents during the event
and, 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 able to enjoy the event safely.”
Planning for the policing of the event started months ago and a
dedicated team - involving Police Officers and Police
Staff - have been involved in the process.
Plans were put in place to deal with everything from security to
traffic - in conjunction with the organisers, the two local
authorities and other agencies - as well as in consultation
with local residents.
The policing operation started at 7pm on Friday (August 27th)
and ran until around 2pm on Monday (August 30th).
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.
There were a few problems with traffic heading to the site on
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.
Chief Superintendent Tim Jackson said: “I am really pleased with
the policing operation for this year’s event. This is the fifth
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. 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.”
Cheshire Police 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 Gary McIntyre, of
Warrington South NPU, and Inspector Sharon Case, of Widnes NPU,
were on hand with a team of dedicated community officers to deal
with any issues arising from the event.
A special phone line was set up and any residents who had any
policing issues or concerns arising directly from the event could
call the number and speak to a local community officer. Any
policing issues or concerns that were raised were fed back to the
community beat managers within the local villages.
Inspector Gary McIntyre said: “The team of dedicated community
officers responded to any calls from local residents and visited
anyone who had any issues or concerns. The majority of the calls
were from residents seeking advice and guidance in relation to the
event. There were only a few calls regarding noise and traffic. We
would once again like to thank members of the community for their
co-operation and understanding prior to and throughout the
event.”