Music festivals will test people's drugs - then give them back

Festival-goers in Britain may soon be able to have their illegal drugs tested before they take them.

A new scheme is being considered where revellers hand over a sample to be tested to make sure it is safe before that sample is destroyed.

However, they will not be forced to hand over the rest of their drugs stash.

The scheme, that has already been tested at the Secret Garden Party festival in Cambridgeshire, is set to be rolled out at the Reading and Leeds Festival this year, with support from local police forces.

Festival organisers are hoping that up to 10 festivals will also carry the scheme in 2017.

Fiona Measham, founder of The Loop, which runs the testing tents, said the policy was designed to cut down on drug-related deaths at festivals.

She said: “It’s really exciting that police are prioritising health and safety over criminal justice at festivals.”

Melvin Benn, who organises Reading and Leeds, Latitude, V Festival and Wireless, says he is working on the plan but still needs the support of local police forces.

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He said: ”We talked about it during the summer of last year and the reality is that I took a decision that unless and until the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPPC) supported the principle of it, it was difficult for us to move forward on it.”

Mr Benn said the scheme will be rolled out “for definite” at this year’s Leeds Festival.

He added: “It’s taken a long time and it won’t be at every festival, but where we think there is a need to do it we will be doing it.”

Lead for drugs at the NPCC, commander Simon Bray, said a “strong understanding of the implications on policing” was required before testing could be endorsed.

He added: ”We could not support initiatives that do not comply with the law or that have unintended negative consequences.

“Any proposal would need to be considered by the police force, local authority and health services with a view on its legal, scientific and possible health implications.”

West Yorkshire Police assistant chief constable Andy Battle, who leads the policing operation for Leeds, said they were “looking at the possibility of supporting the festival’s organisers”.

Top pic: Rex