CRIME at Hampshire’s biggest festival rose slightly compared to last year, police figures show.

The police said there were 121 recorded crimes at this year’s event between August 7-11 at the Matterley Estate.

The figure marks a slight increase on last year’s number of 107, while still lower than 2017 and 2016, at 127 and 176 respectively.

However, the number of people attending the festival was raised, with 67,000 revellers permitted this year compared to 60,000 in 2018.

Among the crimes reported was one sexual assault, 37 thefts from tents, 13 of drugs possession and 13 of possession with intent to supply.

Other crimes were assault (eight), robberies (two), theft of tent (one), thefts from person (26), thefts from motor vehicle (six), theft other (12) and crime other (two). It is not clear what is included in the ‘other’ figures.

Chief Insp Mark Lewis said: “This year’s Boomtown went very well and highlighted the effective partnership working between event management, security companies, stewards, medical staff and the police.

“In particular, the weather provided a number of challenges and plans were in place to manage any related issues. Crime remains low given the numbers of people attending and again this shows the value of working with the event organisers through the city council’s Safety Advisory Group.”

A spokesman for Boomtown added: “We are encouraged to see that the crime statistics still remain relatively low. We see this as a testament to the majority of our audience, as well as the working relationship with the local authorities including police, city council and our teams on the ground. In addition, the support we get from the local community reporting in anything they may feel needs our attention is incredibly helpful to minimise the impact locally.”

Organisers hailed this year’s festival as the best yet, adding that campsite waste was down 70 per cent.

There were complaints over traffic after the festival closed, and the city council confirmed they received 20 noise complaints from 17 people.

All pictures by Allan Jones, of Rockstar Images.