TICKETLESS revellers planning a trip to this weekend’s Reading festival are being warned about the dangers of getting ripped off from suspect sellers.

Thames Valley Police is gearing up for the annual music festival with a large presence around the event, which attracts nearly 90,000 people and starts on Friday.

And as well as keeping partygoers safe on the streets, officers are reminding people of the financial risks of ordering their tickets from touts or unauthorised websites and vendors.

Ch Insp Dave Parker, Silver Commander at the festival said: “If you divulge debit or credit card details to the wrong people you could find yourself out of pocket and without a genuine ticket to show for it, as some of the 'tickets' offered are forgeries.

“This only results in disappointment and unhappiness at the entrance.

“We will not tolerate ticket touts and have a dispersal order in place through Reading Borough Council to provide us with additional powers which will ban touts from operating in the vicinity of the festival site.”

Official ticket sellers and buying advice are available on the Reading Festival website

There were 197 reported crimes during the weekend last year, with officers keen to keep the number as low as possible.

Ch Insp Dave Parker said: “There is also advice available on our website under a dedicated section for Reading Festival, to help anyone attending the festival for the first time to keep themselves and their property safe.

“We are carrying out high visibility patrols within the site and surrounding areas and deploying covert officers to identify and apprehend criminals.

“In the past we have seen significant reductions in all crime types and we are confident of building on that success this year.”

Police have issued advice to festival-goers for keeping themselves safe at the three-day event, which this year features headlining acts Arctic Monkeys, Queens of the Stone Age and Blink 182.

As well as urging revellers to leave their expensive cameras, iPads and mp3 players at home, the advice is as follows: 

  • If you can’t take your valuables with you when you leave the tent, leave them at home
  • Put money, tickets, credit cards and mobile phones in a zipped pocket or use a money belt
  • Do not bring large sums of cash. Only bring what you need and keep it on you at all times
  • Postcode your property with a UV pen which you are planning on bringing to the festival so that it is identifiable. Visit www.securedbydesign.com for more information.
  • If you arrive by car, don’t leave anything on display in your vehicle, such as sat navs, car stereos, CDs or mobile phones. Don’t put items in your glove box or the boot and leave your glove box open to show that it does not contain any valuables

Mobile phone security

  • Lock: Use the phone's security lock code or pin number
  • Mark: Security mark (in permanent form) the phone and battery with your postcode and the number or name of your home.
  • Register: Register the phone with www.immobilise.com. Police use this database to get stolen property back to their owners.