Cheshire Police have uncovered ecstasy, ketamine and more than 200 canisters of nitrous oxide buried at the Creamfields festival site in Daresbury as part of "disruption work" ahead of the event's opening on Thursday. Up to 80,000 people are expected to attend the four-day festival, which features more than 250 artists including Calvin Harris, Tiësto, Martin Garrix and Swedish House Mafia, and officers say they expect to find further stashes as searches continue.

Specialist search teams found 204 canisters of laughing gas along with large bags of Class A, B and C drugs, including tablets marked "It's Coming Home" and green tablets labelled "Cornetto". Superintendent Andy Blizard said police enforce a zero-tolerance drugs policy and are already trying to trace the owners of buried rucksacks and holdalls. The force noted a history of attempts to smuggle drugs into the festival, including two men jailed in 2024 for hiding ketamine in Kinder Eggs, and a woman charged last year over a similar attempt to smuggle MDMA pills worth up to £630.