Love Saves The Day’s clampdown on illegal drugs

Festival-goers have been urged to read safety guidance issued by organisers before they attend the event

Organisers of the Love Saves The Day (LSTD) festival have introduced stricter rules around the use of illegal drugs.

Thousands of people will be descending on Ashton Court for the two-day event this weekend.

To boost the safety of revellers, organisers said they had brought in a range of measures to clamp down on illegal drugs.

"It felt really important to raise awareness around harm and reduction and also have that ability for some back-of-the house testing," said LSTD director Tom Paine.

Love Saves The Day is returning to Bristol this weekend

There will be educational stalls, and festival-goers have been sent information to read before they attend.

Back-of-house testing on seized drugs will be taking place and messages will be sent via social media of anything that "causes concern".

Police have worked closely with the LSTD event organisers and security team ahead of the festival.

Mr Paine said LSTD's plan around drugs was a "re-strengthening of everything" that organisers have attempted to do before.

"It felt really important to raise awareness around harm and reduction and also have that ability for some back-of-the house testing," he said.

'Prime age'

"If there was any substances that we either seized at this site that we were worried about, we'll be able to get them essentially tested, to find out what they were."

LSTD's demographic is a "prime age" for taking drugs, said Mr Paine.

"It might be that they might have no experience of of it and people are considering doing it for their first time," he said.

"We really wanted to push again the awareness and the importance of harm reduction."

This year there has been concerns around the rise of synthetic opioids, he said.

"There's a really big fear across the industry of the risk of those synthetic moving into this world of the recreational drug-user," he said.

"And the risks associated with them are pretty terrifying."

30,000 per day are set to the attend the festival

Throughout the day, people can head to stalls, which will have drug specialists working on them for advice or support.

"Festivals can be a real force for good," he said.

"The opportunity for people to come together - LSTD has 30,000 people each day - and have a really communal experience together."

Across the festival's eight stages, the diverse line-up will welcome household names including drum and bass stars Rudimental, DJs CamelPhat and The Streets.

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