FINAL preparations are underway for the return of one of Southampton's biggest events.

A list of road closures has been announced ahead of the Common People music festival, which takes place over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Three of the main roads surrounding Southampton Common will be closed for the event on Saturday and Sunday - Hill Lane, Cemetery Road and Northlands Road.

Stages started being put up at the beginning of this week and organisers aim for their preparations to be complete by Friday.

The festival was first held in the city last year and was a huge hit, with Fatboy Slim, Grace Jones and Band of Skulls wowing more than 35,000 people over its two days.

This year's headliners include Southampton superstar Craig David as well as Duran Duran, Katy B, Primal Scream and Public Enemy.

Speaking about last years event, DJ and festival organiser Rob da Bank said: "I think we proved last year that we’ve got a strong traffic management plan in place for Common People, so we don’t anticipate any major problems this year."

Transport options for Common People

Organisers are asking people to come by public transport if possible or to use the town centre car parks as there is no car park at the festival.

Bluestar bus service are running shuttle busses to and from the event all weekend.

The city centre shuttle bus will run continuously from 9.45am to midnight, with frequent intervals at peak times from 10.15am to 3pm, and 9.30pm to midnight.

Pick-ups will be at Town Quay Red Funnel/Red Jet Terminal 1, Castle Way, Southampton Central Station (South Side), Above Bar (Cenotaph) and London Road. Return tickets cost £5 or £10 for a family of two adults and up to three children.

The city centre shuttle bus will run continuously from 9.45am to midnight, with frequent intervals at peak times from 10.15am to 3pm, and 9.30pm to midnight. Pick ups will be Town Quay Red Funnel / Red Jet Terminal 1, Castle Way, Southampton Central Station (South Side), Above Bar (Cenotaph) and London Road.

There will be a designated taxi rank for Hackney carriages at The Cowherds Pub each night after the show has finished.

Pick up and drop off for private taxis or family and friends is at Richard Taunton College car park, in Hill Lane.

General manager for Bluestar, Matt Kitchin, said: “We do expect buses to be busy, so we’re also running additional services on routes close to Southampton Common - especially in the evening to ensure everyone gets home safely."

Cowherds Pub manager, Matthew Derdrill, said: "Having Common People come to the city and being host to the taxi rank worked really well last year.

"We had a lot more punters in the pub and also catered for a lot of the festival staff - we are doing the same this year and really looking forward to it."

Tickets for Common People are available here.