Police officers at Boardmasters arrested 20 people for drugs offences over the weekend, although thefts from tents were down significantly from the numbers reported in 2016.

Around 50,000 people attended the music festival at Watergate Bay this year and officers worked closely with festival organisers to ensure people were kept safe throughout the event.

Additional officers were seen on foot patrols in the town centre and at the Watergate Bay festival site. The police drones unit also assisted along with the deploying of our armed officers at the festival for the first time to reassure the public.

This year, 46 thefts from tents were reported, which is a significant reduction from the 70 reported during 2016.

Police Commander for East Cornwall, Superintendent Ian Drummond-Smith said: “Sadly at festivals of this size there are always some opportunistic thieves but given the size of the crowd, the number of thefts was relatively low.”

A major proactive anti-drugs operation took place over the weekend with Boardmasters festival staff working closely with the police. In total 20 people, aged from 15-years-old to 50-years-old, were arrested on suspicion of drugs supply offences or money laundering.

A proactive roads policing operation called Operation Allied Wolf took place in the first two days of the festival: a man from Manchester was travelling to the festival and was stopped by police close by, where he was found to be wanted for a number of offences in Cheshire. He was arrested and Cheshire police travelled to Newquay to transfer him into their custody.

Over 150 vehicles were stopped during the two day operation with the discovery of various offences ranging from defective vehicles, speeding and positive drug or alcohol tests to arrests of drivers during the first part of the operation, which was intelligence led, using ANPR information.

The use of Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology in marked and unmarked vehicles and in static locations allowed officers to identify criminals who were making their way to the area.

Drug “sniffer” dogs and roadside testing with alcolmeters and drug swabs were available to police throughout the operation.

Chief Inspector Adrian Leisk, head of roads policing, Alliance Operations Department, said: “Allied Wolf saw Devon & Cornwall and Dorset Police officers working together to target criminals who use the road network to attend and disrupt a well run and popular event.

“We used this opportunity to reinforce messages around road safety to drivers. Some of the officers involved are also family liaison officers, who have to deliver that knock on the door that will change a family’s life forever. We will do everything in our power to reduce the number of times this happens in our area."