ONE of Oxfordshire's biggest festivals received a spike in noise complaints this year as frustrated residents made their feelings known.

Wilderness Festival attracted almost 30,000 people to Cornbury Park, Charlbury, at the start of August, but nine people contacted the event organisers and West Oxfordshire District Council with grievances over the volume.

This was an increase on the three complaints received in 2017 and 2018 combined, but Paul Taylor, who lives about a mile away in Marlborough Place, Charlbury, claimed noise has been a problem for several years.

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He said: "Every two years people complain, so they go quiet to keep people happy then crank it up again the year after. They don't give a damn about the locals and it's getting beyond a joke.

"I don't mind people enjoying themselves, but not at 2am on a Monday morning when people have got to go to work.

"People have said I should go away when Wilderness is on, but why should I? I shouldn't be pushed out of my own home to accommodate them."

The district council issues the festival with a license and received one noise complaint about Wilderness in 2017, but no breach was found when the issue was followed up.

Meanwhile, no complaints were sent to the council last year, although two went to the festival directly.

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But this year seven complaints were sent to the council alone, while another two were received by Wilderness.

Mr Taylor claimed he knew some complaints came from the nearby villages of Finstock and Leafield, located on the other side of Cornbury Park, and the noise 'wasn't a case of the wind direction'.

He also maintained that music had been playing until 4am in previous years, although the district council said this year's 2am cut-off was 'no change'.

Council spokesperson, Rachel McQuilliam, confirmed the absence of any direct complaints in 2018 meant the authority did not monitor this year's festival.

The council held a meeting with the event organisers yesterday and will monitor 2020’s event, while the authority is still investigating if Wilderness breached its license.

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2019 was the ninth year of the festival and starred a host of big-name headliners including singer-songwriter Robyn, indie group Bombay Bicycle Club and dance duo Groove Armada.

It featured hundreds of music, comedy, spoken word and theatre performances, including a Saturday night hip hop karaoke session.

Festival-goers regularly dress up in outrageous costumes and 2019 was no different - a fancy-dress cricket match featured players dressed as The Pope, Boris Johnson and a dinosaur.

Wilderness was contacted for comment but did not respond.