Glastonbury 'breached licence'

Michael Eavis plans a "super fence" next year

Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis is to be prosecuted after too many people got in to this year's event.

Mendip District Council confirmed a recommendation to take action over an alleged breach of the music festival's licence and a noise abatement notice.

Both cases will be heard on the same day but a date for the court hearing has not yet been arranged.

Mendip District Council's Regulatory Board, which licenses the world famous festival in Somerset, voted in October to prosecute the farmer for breaching his licence.

Mr Eavis, who has run the event since its humble beginnings on his Pilton land in 1970, said many people had climbed into this year's festival over the fence.

Michael Eavis has run the festival since 1972

But he has already announced plans for a £1m "super fence" to combat the problem next year.

Mr Eavis said at the time that he was being victimised for tragedies such as when nine people were crushed to death at the Roskilde festival in Denmark earlier this year.

"I am being the victim of other events. There has been Roskilde, Notting Hill and Hillsborough and they think we're going to be next," he said.

"Its rubbish. We didn't get one single person hurt as a result of crushing or overcrowding this year."

The commander of the police operation at June's Glastonbury festival had said the estimated 200,000 people there seriously jeopardised public safety.

Council environmental health manager Steve Anderson told the board he broadly agreed with the police estimates of numbers.