POLICE seized Class A drugs worth more than £50,000 at the music and arts festival Bestival.

Officers arrested 163 people on suspicion of drugs offences at the event in Robin Hill Country Park, near Newport on the Isle of Wight, over the weekend.

Force chiefs described their operation as a success.

Ten people were arrested on suspicion of intent to supply Class A drugs.

A Hampshire police spokesman said there had been relatively few other crimes considering the size of the crowd, which this year grew to about 30,000. There were 30 thefts from tents, which was a decrease on last year's total.

Supt Dean Jones, who led the policing operation, said: "The event was very good natured and, as anticipated, we experienced very low levels of crime. Our drugs operation was also very successful and many said they felt reassured by our presence."

Extra resources were deployed this year to minimise the impact of the event on the rest of the Island. The number of incidents across the Island during the event was very similar to a normal weekend.

Big names in this year's Bestival line-up included The Chemical Brothers, Madness, The Go! Team, Calvin Harris, Primal Scream, Beastie Boys, The Gossip, Kate Nash, Tim Westwood and The Orb.

The festival, organised by DJ Rob da Bank, also had a good showing of comedy, with artists including Phill Jupitus, Howard Marks and Ed Byrne.

Thousands of festival-goers were delayed in getting to the Island following a fault on one of three ferry services running from Southampton.