READING STRETCHED

They've not taken full control yet, but already the influence of Clear Channel is starting to be felt at the Mean Fiddler - they've announced plans to try and increase the numbers attending Reading by 10,000 - over 18% more people coming into an already overstretched area. Residents in the area aren't particularly thrilled, although the Mean Fiddler's Melvin Benn tries to suggest that there won't be a traffic impact:

"We also have the ability to sell the additional 10,000 tickets on a combined package of either rail and ticket use or national express and ticket use. The impact on the local community, such as traffic, will be negligible because the only method of buying the ticket is through purchase of a combined package."

Because, of course, nobody is going to buy a ticket with a cheap add-on for coach travel from somewhere nearby - say, Oxford - and turn up by car anyway. Are they?

music reading festivals