Download festival: Police say crime 'down by 35%'

Festivalgoers at the Download festival had their faces scanned by police

Crime figures for a festival attended by 80,000 people were the lowest for years, a police force has said.

Leicestershire Police used facial recognition technology on revellers at Download to identify known criminals.

The force received some criticism over the measures, with campaign group Big Brother Watch calling it "worrying".

Police said 60 crimes were reported this year - a reduction of 35% compared to 2014.

A cashless payment system was used for the first time at the event, which took place from 12 to 14 June, in a bid to reduce the need for people to carry money.

Crime has now fallen year on year for three years and figures are at a five year low, the force said.

Most of the offences were related to theft from cars and tents.

Police said 80,000 people attended Download at Donington Park

A cashless payment system was put in place for the first time this year

Det Insp Matt Ditcher, of Leicestershire Police, said: "Crime at Download has always been low but this year has been really exceptional.

"When you consider that 80,000 people flood into Leicestershire over five days, almost doubling the size of its population, it is incredible that so few crimes have been reported to us."

"It's obvious our strategy works really well and has been a great success."

It was believed to be the first time facial recognition software had been used at an outdoor event in the UK.

Police said it had provided an efficient and effective way of picking known offenders out of a crowd.

Results of the trial will be published in a report.

The festival, held at Donington Park, was headlined by Kiss, Muse and Slipknot.