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A NEW three-day outdoor summer music festival in the centre of Glasgow is being planned by T in the Park bosses.

The event, featuring some of the biggest acts in the world, would be held in Glasgow Green on the second weekend in July 2017.

If the ambitious scheme comes to fruition, it’s almost certain that T in the Park would not take place at its new Strathallan Castle home next year.

Instead, 180,000 fans would gather in the east end of Glasgow over three days.

Acts including Radiohead and Coldplay have been mooted as potential headliners as the festival would be pitched at a slightly older audience than T.

The new event would be operated by Geoff Ellis’s DF Concerts, the award-winning team behind T in the Park for more than 20 years.

It would not be branded with the iconic T symbol of sponsors Tennent’s and would not offer camping as an option.

(Image: Sunday Mail)

Secret top-level talks between DF and Glasgow City Council are at an advanced stage.

There has been no official application for the licence which would be required but senior council sources say it is “highly likely” it would be granted.

Economists believe the event could be worth more than £10million to the city’s economy.

A source said of the talks: “This would not be T in the Park coming to Glasgow but a completely new festival. The acts involved are likely to appeal to a slightly older demographic.

“Everyone who has been involved so far is really excited at the prospect. Some acts have already been sounded out, though their identities are being kept under wraps.

“Glasgow Green has hosted massive gigs including The Stone Roses and Radio One’s Big Weekend in 2014.

“It’s a five-minute walk from some of the best pubs and clubs the city has to offer.

“It’s been made clear that this isn’t T in the Park comes to Glasgow but it would obviously be madness to run both events up against each other. It could mean T taking a break for a year.

“Geoff has great contacts in the city and is a former director of Glasgow City Marketing Bureau.”

(Image: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

A senior source close to DF said: “This is under consideration but no final decisions have been reached.

“Everything is up for discussion and it is still entirely possible that T could go ahead at Strathallan next year. It remains the preferred option, though a number of alternatives are being examined.

“It is possible that T could take a break and a festival takes place on Glasgow Green.”

An industry insider said: “There is no way DF could, or would, run two events of this scale alongside each other.

“This is going to be a massive change but you can see all the advantages with Glasgow. It wipes out problems with infrastructure and means the site will be cleared every night.”

The first T in the Park was held just 15 miles from Glasgow in Strathclyde Park, near Hamilton, in 1994, with just 2000 people camping.

The festival then became firmly established at Balado in Perthshire, becoming a key date in the calendar for millions of music fans.

It has attracted the biggest names in the music industry including Calvin Harris, who headlined the main stage in 2015, rapper Jay-Z, Beyonce and Coldplay. But T has been hit by problems since it had to be moved from Balado. Health and safety bosses raised concerns about an oil pipeline running under the site.

There were setbacks at its new home of Strathallan after a species of protected osprey was reported to be migrating to nest at the site.

Following close monitoring to safeguard the birds, DF concerts were given the go-ahead for the new location.

The first festival at Strathallan was held in 2015 but was beset by access and traffic problems.

Ellis said he was “heartbroken” after Peter MacCallum and Megan Bell, both 17, died at this year’s festival.

He was also affected by the deaths of Jim Richardson and Paige Mackay, who died after the event.

Paige, 19, died three days later and dad-of-three Jim became stranded after taking a bus from Strathallan.

Calls were made for a clampdown on disorder after 429 crimes were recorded and 54 arrests made over the weekend in July.

Offences included the theft of an ATM machine containing around £30,000 from the site.

The event drew 211 complaints from the public.

Pre-tax profits plummeted by almost half from £6.24million to £3.6million despite a rise in turnover.

It’s understood there have been disagreements between sponsors Tennent’s and DF over the direction of the festival.

Last year, tickets for T went on sale by November 26 in time for the pre-Christmas market.

But there has been no ticketing announcement on next year so far.

Glasgow City Council said: “We are in discussions with DF Concerts about hosting a non-camping festival in the city next July. We will not be, and are not interested in, hosting T in the Park.”

A DF Concerts spokesman declined to comment.