POLICE have praised organisers and festival goers for the low crime rate at this year's Isle of Wight Festival, despite police reports more than doubling.

Initial figures released by Hampshire Constabulary revealed that 90 offences were reported to police over the course of the four-day festival compared to 41 last year.

15 people were arrested at the event compared with nine last year.

Isle of Wight Festival policing commander Superintendent Simon Dodds attributed the increase to reported thefts from tents on the first night.

He said: "Police and site security were quick to respond to these reports and subsequently two suspects were arrested. We are confident that this proactive joint work leads to the prevention of further offending of this type for the remainder of the event."

Drug offences at the festival also remained low, with the use of amnesty bins at the festival proving a success as £8,351 worth of drugs were removed from the site, compared to £2,202 last year.

Superintendent Simon Dodds said: "Isle of Wight Festival has established itself as a relaxed and family-friendly event over decades of operating, and continues to do so as it moves into its 50th year.

“We are grateful to the general public and Festivalgoers for making it so. We do of course recognise that there has been an increase in overall crime reports this year.

“Reports of violent offences were also down from the previous year, which we are pleased to see.