Police praise vast majority of festival-goers after Kendal Calling

The news comes after steps were taken to clamp down on drug use at this year’s festival, including detection dogs at all entrances, following the death of Christian Pay, 18, of Millom, after “substance abuse” at last year’s event.

Around 25,000 people enjoyed the festival at Lowther Deer Park between Thursday July 28 and Sunday July 31.

Cumbria Police have worked closely with festival organisers and security teams for months leading up to the event, to reduce opportunities for crime and disorder.

Pro-active drug searches before and throughout the event were carried out to prevent illegal substances being supplied and used.

A total of 19 arrests were made during the event.

Officers arrested 11 people on suspicion of possession with intention to supply Class A drugs, and two people on suspicion of possession with intent to supply psychoactive substances.

Police also arrested three people for assault, two for drink driving and one person who was subject to a fail to answer warrant.

A further 41 people were dealt with for personal drug offences (29 for Class A drugs, 11 for Class B and 1 for Class C), and officers dealt with two public order offences.

There were 12 reports received for theft from a motor vehicle.

Chief Insp David Bosson said: “Although we did make a number of arrests over the weekend, the number is relatively small in comparison to the large number of people who attended the festival, and we are very pleased with the vast majority of festival-goers who appeared to enjoy the music and the sunshine sensibly.

“We wanted to ensure the event was an enjoyable one for all and worked very hard as a team with the event organisers and security to prevent any serious crime and disorder from occurring, and to do anything at our disposal to prevent drugs ending up on site.

“We made it clear beforehand that we would not tolerate drugs at the event and most people took this on board.

“The amnesty bins were widely used and The Loop front-of-house testing service was a fantastic resource that enabled users to find out what was in substances of concern and to be given advice to help keep them safe.”