Yobs torch tents as Reading Festival descends into violence and looting: Music fans leave early as brawls break out, chairs are thrown and thugs start fires in campsite on last day of event
- Videos on social media showed fires burning across the Reading Festival site
- Fighting and looting was also reported on the festival’s final day on Sunday
- Needle spiking was also reported after a young woman was pierced in the leg
- Roads leaving the festival were said to be gridlocked as hundreds tried to flee
Revellers are reportedly abandoning Reading Festival in droves as fighting, looting and tent-burning broke out on its final day.
Limited security forces struggled to impose order as crowds threw chairs and other objects into large bonfires.
Chaos broke out around 4pm on Sunday, with videos showing fires burning across the Reading campsite, The Mirror reported.
An eyewitness said fans of rival music genres fought each other as hip-hop and alternative festivalgoers clashed after different acts performed on the same stage after one another.
Some even reported disturbing cases of spiking after a young woman was said to be stabbed with a needle while standing in a queue.
Roads out were reportedly gridlocked as hundreds of festivalgoers fled the site as the fighting and tent looting continued.
Fires were burned in the middle of the Reading Festival campsite as disorder broke out from around 4pm on Sunday
Many reported online they left the festival early after witnessing the chaos
Fires were lit between tents in the Orange Camp section of the festival in the day, while more fires burned on Sunday night, according to festivalgoers on social media.
Attendee Amber Vellacott, 26, said she and her boyfriend escaped the festival after they found themselves surrounded by violence.
She told the Mirror: ‘We saw fires start at about 4pm in various camps, the crews & security were fast on them, but all the kids were surrounding and egging it on, throwing rubbish & cans into them.
‘We felt the whole vibe of the camp sites change, and when we saw people start picking up tents and rubbish, throwing them into the trees & across the camps, we thought it was best to pack up and head out – annoyingly so!
Chairs and other objects were thrown onto the bonfires by crowds at the festival
Many said they left the campsite after feeling the atmosphere turn sour as things became more dangerous
Reports of fighting and even cases of needle spiking were reported by attendees
‘But it just didn’t feel safe for two grown adults, let alone all the kids there. When we left at about 7pm, there was a fair bit of security but not masses. More volunteers who dare not get involved – and I can’t blame them.’
Disorder and large fires have been seen at Reading Festival in the past – particularly on its final day.
The 1975 were headlining on Sunday night as the chaos continued, following other big-name acts including The Arctic Monkeys, Dave and Megan Thee Stallion.
The news comes after a 16 year-old boy died at Leeds Festival after a suspected drugs incident.
Yorkshire Police said it was investigating whether he had taken an MDMA pill.
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