RockNess festival overall crime down but drug finds up

Crime at the three-day RockNess festival in the Highlands was down on last year, police have confirmed.

The ambulance service also reported fewer medical incidents and injuries.

However, of the 35,000 people who gathered on the shores of Loch Ness at Dores, 243 positive drug searches were made, which was more than last year.

Event organiser Jim King said with acts such as Kasabian, the Chemical Brothers and Paolo Nutini, RockNess saw some of its best performances to date.

The clean-up operation was under way on Monday as the make-shift campsite, which was temporary home to many thousands, is cleared away.

Northern Constabulary had a total of 11 reported crimes for offences including breach of the peace, assault and theft which is a slightly fall on last year.

Event Commander, Stevie Mackay said: "On the whole it has been a largely positive event.

"We had slightly higher numbers of people attempting to take drugs into the event, which is disappointing given the warning messages we issue prior to RockNess, but these numbers are still low when looking at the numbers that attended and we worked hard to reduce the amount of drugs available at the event."