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Y Not festival-goers will be charged an extra £10 deposit this year, which they will only get back if they present a bag of rubbish at the exit gate.

The initiative is part of a new scheme launched by organisers of the award-winning summer music festival, which aims to cut down on the vast pile of litter which is sent to landfill after the event every year.

Organisers are also planning to tackle the mountain of tents which are abandoned on the Y Not festival site, near Pikehall, after each event, by providing tents in a "pitch village" and encouraging other campers to take their tents home.

The festival hosts around 25,000 people and bosses say they have launched the new "Keep the Peaks Green" campaign to encourage attendees to help them minimise the environmental impact of the annual summer influx.

(Image: Steven Pentleton from HawkUAV, a Spondon based drone company)

A spokesman for the festival, which started out as a displaced house party in a quarry near Ashbourne, said: “Though there isn’t a more idyllic spot for Y Not, we recognise that running a festival on this site has a direct impact, both positive and negative, on the natural environment.

“So, we are making even bigger efforts to be sustainable and kind to the earth with the launch of our new ‘Keep The Peaks Green’ campaign.

“The scheme offers a number of ways both the festival and you can be savvier and more sustainable with your plastic use, litter and even tents.”

Among the incentives will be a “litter bond”, which will see all attendees charged a £10 deposit on booking, returnable if a bag of rubbish is presented at the exit gate.

Traders will also be asked not to use any single-use plastic on the site and the pitch village will provide ready-erected tents, to avoid the usual sea of abandoned canvas at the end of each festival.

Back for its 14th year this summer, Y Not will take place in Pikehall from 25th-28th July and the line-up will start to be announced next month. Visit www.ynotfestival.com