St Albans: M Festival goes ahead despite 'inferno'

M Festival - held at the city's Marlborough School on Saturday (July 1) - was evacuated at 1.23pm when a fire broke out in the Real Belgium Fries van.

Thousands were expected to attend the festival, however, only 500 had arrived by this time.

The crowd at M Festival. (Image: Michael Lyons Photography)

The field was quickly evacuated, with two fire engines arriving to deal with "the growing inferno".

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Three gas canisters were located inside the van, posing "potentially the biggest danger to anyone or anything in the proximity of the van".

Ultimate Coldplay performed at the festival. (Image: Michael Lyons Photography)

The blaze took over half an hour to extinguish, with firefighters also dousing the nearby school to minimise any further damage to the building.

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The gas canisters were cooled in recycling bins full of water, and removed by fire fighters.

Around 500 people were at the event when it was evacuated. (Image: Michael Lyons Photography)

A spokesperson for M Festival said: "Although the owner of the van was in shock, no one was hurt in the incident and the chief firefighter commented on how well he thought the incident had been managed by security and the volunteers on site."

The evacuation lasted over two-and-a-half hours, with the event continuing as planned at 3.45pm.

Three gas cylinders were inside the van. (Image: Michael Lyons Photography)

The spokesperson continued: "This was a huge relief for festival organisers, who were looking at losses of well over £50,000 if the event had to be cancelled!"

Festival goers - who, meanwhile had descended on the King Harry pub - returned to the festival, with one describing it as "a mini Glastonbury".

The festival was described as a 'mini-Glastonbury'. (Image: Michael Lyons Photography)

Another added: "Fantastic! Despite a fire, it was organised and planned so well!”

Artists including Ultimate Coldplay, The Shantleys and RPJ Band performed to 2,300 music lovers, with reduced sets in some cases.

The M Festival has been held at Marlborough School since 2009, with £120,000 raised for Marlborough School over the years.

Over 2,300 festival goers attended the event. (Image: Michael Lyons Photography)

This year's event was the last for the team that devised M Festival, nearly 15 years ago.

Oliver Warrack, Carol Bush, Richard and Jane Sullivan were presented with champagne and flowers as a thank you for their hard work.

The festival will return on July 6, 2024.