Lessons need to be learned in bid to avoid festival deaths

The second day of the two-day musical extravaganza was cancelled by organisers after the deaths of a 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman.

While the initial thoughts of our local councillors and MPs were with the families and friends of the two young people who died at the event, a thorough investigation and review into the festival must begin immediately.

And if a ‘bad batch’ of substances does turn out to be the reason for these deaths, then it is not only Mutiny which should come under the microscope but any music festival the length and breadth of the country.

Although it is too early to know exactly what happened and what ‘substances’ these were, drugs in any shape or form appear to be commonplace at many of these types of events.

So what is the answer?

Security at the entrances to such events needs to be stepped up and perhaps police intelligence ought to be brought more into play.

Someone, somewhere must sit down and thrash out a plan of action to try and stop this ever happening again.

No one wants to spoil the enjoyment that thousands of people get from going along and listening to bands of national fame or up-and-coming acts that can get their big break at local festivals.

But if the headache and cost of increasing security so that everyone is thoroughly searched as they arrive and handed over to the authorities if they have something on their person that they shouldn’t, saves just one life, then it would be worth every penny.

Lessons have got to be learned – and fast – as all too often across the country young people pay the price for the greed of unscrupulous drug dealers.