Camp Bestival, a family-friendly music festival at Lulworth Castle in Dorset, has banned camping stoves at tents and disposable barbecues anywhere on site because of hot weather and dry ground conditions. The move comes amid a wave of wildfires across the region this summer and follows the declaration of a drought in England on Wednesday, with organisers working alongside Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service to reduce fire risk.

Instead of stove and disposable barbecue use at tents, the festival has set up designated campsite cooking areas with free hot water, and purpose-built barbecues and stoves may only be used there; integrated stoves in campervans remain permitted. Other banned items include fireworks, flares, sparklers, lanterns and smoke canisters. The precaution follows a fire on 17 July at the nearby Rustic Stomp festival, where a camping stove ignited a tent and destroyed 100m by 40m of heathland. Camp Bestival, run by DJ Rob da Bank and now in its 18th year, runs Thursday to Sunday with acts including Fatboy Slim, Self Esteem, Bastille and Billy Ocean.