A MINI Glastonbury-style festival due to be held on farmland near Winchester this summer could be stopped because of police fears over crowd control.

The Woolfire Festival is hoping to attract up to 500 people to a field in Woodmancott near Micheldever, with up and coming musicians and DJs due to entertain the crowds.

However police chiefs in Winchester are planning to oppose the plans when they go before Winchester City Council chiefs today, claiming the organisers' security arrangements are lax.

The event has been organised by Charles Albin, a student at Liverpool University and whose parents own Vicarage Farm near Woodmancott where the festival is due to take place between July 13 and 15.

In a letter to the council, PC Gary Miller, police licensing officer, said: "We believe that the applicant has failed to demonstrate how it will be managed safely."

He said their concerns included a lack of trained stewards, adding: "How will they be able to restrict entry as the site is virtually open. This could lead to the event being out of control."

However Mr Albin, 21, who has run small scale events before, said he had now talked through the police's concerns with them and that he was hopeful permission for the event would now be given.

A final decision rests with the council's licensing sub-committee.