ORGANISERS of this year's Devizes Beer Festival have warned there will be a clampdown on people trying to bring in their own drink to The Wharf.

The festival, which is in its 18th year, will be held on July 7 but organiser Don Jones said a blind eye will no longer be turned on people not buying tickets.

He said: "We've got more and more concerned with people bringing their own drink to the festival. We used to turn a blind eye to the odd person in a group of ticket holders but the situation has got out of hand. We even had one bunch that included no ticket holders setting up a gazebo last year and drinking cans of lager.

"This year we're planning to beef up the security and not allow anyone at all to consume any alcohol on site that wasn't bought at the festival.

"We'll make sure wine or something is available for those who want to accompany beer drinkers and are happy to contribute to the costs. This might sound draconian but things have been getting out of hand and we have to sort it out now."

Mr Jones posted the message on the event's social media page and scores of people joined in the debate. The vast majority backed the organisers stance but there were suggestions that Prosecco as well as wine should be sold to keep non beer drinkers happy.

Tickets for this year's festival will go on sale after the Seend Beer Festival is held on May 5.