Fears raised over claims there was a lack of drinking water at Mutiny Festival

Festivalgoers who attended the music show on Saturday claimed on social media there was a lack of drinking water after 4pm, when they say some of the taps stopped working, leading to large queues.

But the team behind the show have vehemently denied the claims, saying there were 21 free taps working across festival site, on King George V Playing Fields in Cosham.

The mother of Georgia Jones, 18, said her daughter died after taking ‘two pills’. The NHS says using ecstasy can lead to overheating and dehydration, and drinking too little can be dangerous – while too much fluid can affect the brain, as ecstasy-use causes the body to retain fluid.

Police have not given details of the suspected causes of death of both Georgia and dad-of-one Tommy Cowan, 20, who died in hospital after being taken unwell at the festival.

Fiona Measham, a director of the drug-testing charity The Loop, said dozens of people had contacted her expressing their concern about the availability of water at the festival.

‘[People] were contacting us to say there was a real problem accessing water and that the pumps were not working properly and water was dripping out. There were big queues around the pump and also people queueing in the sun to get in [to the festival],’ she told The Guardian.

Just days before the event, Mutiny had taken to social media to warn partygoers of ‘super hot temperatures’, urging them to ‘drink lots of water and take some time in the shade’.

The festival warned on Saturday of a ‘bad batch’ of a substance that was ‘dangerous’.

However, one festivalgoer said she saw people in ‘absolute states’, saying: ‘The fact that the water taps ran out yesterday at Mutiny and most of the bar’s ran out of bottled water is actually appalling. [I] saw people in absolute states yesterday caused by the combination of dehydration and drugs/alcohol.’

A statement released by Mutiny today said: ‘As with any temporary site, water stations need to be installed. At Mutiny we had 21 free water taps across the site providing water all day at no charge. Customers can bring in a sealed 500ml bottle of water to refill from those water stations. These were working at all times.

‘Because of the high temperatures, we also monitored these free water areas to make sure that there were no long queues.

‘In addition to the taps, free water was available at the medical and welfare facilities and free water was handed out by security for those in the pit at the front of the stages.’

As previously reported, the festival was cancelled on Sunday following the deaths of Georgia and Tommy.

Both fell unwell during the music event and were taken to Queen Alexandra where they later died.

Georgia’s mum, Janine Milburn posted on Facebook that her daughter ‘had died due to complications after taking two pills’.

She added she hoped this incident would deter others from taking drugs.

Yesterday friends and family gathered at Staunton Country Park to release hundreds of balloons in memory of Georgia and Tommy.