One of Britain’s biggest music festival organisers hopes to allow people to test drugs on site before they take them as part of a radical scheme aimed at reducing drug-related deaths.

Melvin Benn, the head of Live Nation subsidiary Festival Republic, which organises events including the Reading and Leeds festivals, is seeking the support of the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and West Yorkshire police before launching the scheme.

Festivalgoers will be able to take their drugs to a testing tent run by the Loop, which usually conducts forensic testing of drugs seized by police. They will then tell them what is in the drugs before destroying whatever was handed over.

Benn, who also organises Latitude, V festival, Wireless and a host of other events, said: “We talked about it during the summer of last year and the reality is that I took a decision that unless and until the NPCC supported the principle of it, it was difficult for us to move forward on it.”

He said he had seen a draft of an agreement that would make it easier for forces across the country to support the initiative. He ruled out it being introduced at Download next month, but said: “We’ll see it this year for definite … at Leeds I’m pretty certain.

“It’s taken a long time and it won’t be at every festival, but where we think there is a need to do it we will be doing it.”

Last year, Lewis Haunch, 17, died after taking drugs at Leeds festival while two teenagers died at T in the Park in reportedly drug-related incidents.

The Loop ran the scheme for the first time last year when about 200 revellers tested their illegal drugs at Secret Garden Party in Cambridgeshire.



Fiona Measham, the Loop’s founder, hailed the initiativeas radical, adding: “It’s really exciting that police are prioritising health and safety over criminal justice at festivals.”

She believes up to 10 festivals will be involved this year, including a number of independent events, and hopes front-house testing will become commonplace in nightclubs and city centres.

West Yorkshire police’s assistant chief constable, Andy Battle, who leads the policing operation for Leeds, said they were “looking at the possibility of supporting the festival’s organisers”.



He added: “We can never condone the use of illegal drugs, but we recognise that some people will continue to take them and we need to adapt our approach in the interests of public safety.

“Consuming controlled drugs is inherently dangerous and the tragic consequences of this have been illustrated with drugs-related deaths at the event in recent years.

“We will continue to work closely with the onsite security team to target the possession and supply of controlled drugs and the criminal law will be applied appropriately as necessary.”

Commander Simon Bray, the lead for drugs at the NPCC, said a strong understanding of the implications on policing was required before testing could be endorsed. “We could not support initiatives that do not comply with the law or that have unintended negative consequences,” he said.

“Any proposal would need to be considered by the police force, local authority and health services with a view on its legal, scientific and possible health implications.”