WOMAD issues an apology

Organisers of the Womad festival have been forced to apologise to festival-goers amid complaints over poor management. The event, held last month, was marred by torrential rain and freak weather conditions. The report was prepared by organisers in response to a series of allegations posted on the Internet about parking, staff and general management of the site.

A spokesperson for the festival said: "As organisers, we deeply regret the difficulties our customers experienced at the festival. We are disappointed that people feel that not enough was being done when our crew were working 20 hours each day to keep the festival going.Once there are thousands of people on the festival site, how we manage it changes, with public safety being the priority. At its peak, there were 40 tractors on the site pulling both customers and traders to safety. We are disappointed that valued fans and customers believe that in some way we deceived people about the conditions on the site - we did not."

More than 60 people have posted comments on the festival website under the discussion heading, Womad Rip Off'. One customer, known only as Michelles, said: "The site was not family and disabled friendly - it was more like a battle zone. What an awful weekend - I have been going to Womad for 13 years and it was a disgrace to treat loyal festival-goers this way."