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Thirty arrested at V Festival
Saturday 18th August 2007, 4:30PM BST.
At least 30 people have been arrested and hard drugs seized as tens of thousands of music fans arrive for the V Festival which kicks off today – bringing more traffic misery to roads around Wolverhampton.
Ninety seven people were given cautions for drugs offences, while around a dozen untaxed or uninsured vehicles were seized by police as the first of the 80,000 revellers arrived at Weston Park.
Ecstasy, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis were also found as arrests were made for drugs, theft and public order offences.
Campers reported journeys of up to 10 hours to get to the festival yesterday. Many were seen standing outside their cars in frustration after being caught up in seven-mile tailbacks between Junctions 1 and 3 of the M54.
Cars on the M6 southbound were bumper-to-bumper from as far as Manchester, some 70 miles north of Weston Park.
Police today warned motorists to stay in their vehicles for their own safety and advised people not attending the festival to avoid major routes.
Insp John Townsend, from Staffordshire Police, said: “There is serious traffic congestion on the surrounding roads including the M6, M54, A5 and A449. Staff at the festival site are working hard to relieve the traffic congestion and people are asked not to get out of their vehicles.”
Tonight The Killers, Kasabian, KT Tunstall and James Morrison wre due to perform.
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The organisers are partly to blame for the horrendous traffic queues. Although local, it took me 2.5 hrs to drop my kids off yesterday. At the drop off point there were very few cars and dozens of stewards. But at the main car parking entrance for those stopping the weekend (on the A41), there were NO stewards, and not even a sign saying this was where people should drive in! Every car hesitated before going in, and many were asking the ticket touts if this was the right place – this was the queue that stretched all the way back down the M54, entering in one at a time, slowly, with no-one supervising the entrance at all. Get your act together next time, Weston Park.
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There was also someone operating traffic lights at the roundabout where the A41 meets the A5. He was giving the same length of time to those coming from the north A41 (tailback 5 minutes) to those coming from the south A41 (tailback several hours, as this included those from the M54).
Let me organise the traffic next time, I couldn’t make a worse job of it.
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Why was the police sitting down drinking coffee and not directing traffic i was coming from wallasey
to wolverhampton not going to the stupid v fest they should have been manning the rounabout by the A5 turn off but the was drinking coffe NO MARSHELLS OR ANY COOUNCIL STAFF IT WAS EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES NOT HAPPY
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people running the traffic control coming out of weston park were not only too young to drive but were too young to direct traffic with the amount trying to get out. There was insufficient vehicles to hand to rescue the cars stuck in the mud too a complete shambles trying to exit weston park was like saying the Killer were good live infact it was utter crap
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the worst traffic EVER. 7hrs to travel from Northants to Weston. Only took 2hrs to Chelmsford last year. I could’nt understand it. What were the police doing exactly? Driving up/down with sirens on for apparantly no reason – while we were crawling agonisingly to the festival. Why only one entrance? I hope lessons have been learnt – because we’re the mugs who pay good money to attend these events, but are made to suffer. The rain is just one of those things, but the hell of travelling to the V Festival this year is something that needs to be addressed for the future.
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