A man has been arrested trying to enter the Parklife site with a knife and a 'quantity of pills' after being stopped by security staff with sniffer dogs. The first arrest at this year's festival comes as the cop in charge of policing the festival warned criminals: "Don't bother coming."
The 24-year-old suspect is being questioned by police over possession of Class A drugs and possession of a bladed article. Supt Phil Spurgeon said: "Our message to the criminals is quite simply don't bother coming to Parklife.
"We have a really robust police and partnership community safety operation for the festival, and the arrest and seizure yesterday demonstrates the vigilance of security staff, our thorough search procedures and our commitment to keeping people safe.
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"Make no mistake, illegal items such as weapons and drugs can have fatal consequences. Our top priority this weekend is keeping people safe, and anyone caught trying to take such items into the festival will be robustly dealt with.
"I hope the genuine festival-goers are excited for the fantastic weekend ahead and I am confident the majority will enjoy the event responsibly and safely."
The Courteeners are set to play a huge home-coming gig in front of 40,000 fans tonight, before Parklife itself kicks off tomorrow. More than 80,000 people will be in attendance across Saturday and Sunday, with sets from Carl Cox, Becky Hill, Fred Again…, and Wu-Tang Clan & Nas among others.
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