Man who tried to halt T in Park is arrested

Strathallan campaigner Mark Liddiard charged by police

An anti-T in the Park campaigner was arrested following an alleged disturbance at the festival’s Strathallan Castle site.

Mark Liddiard, who lives on the estate, is accused of being involved in a heated row with a construction crew as they worked on an underground pipeline near his home.

The 54-year-old had earlier led a hard-fought campaign to block the music festival moving to Strathallan.

Mr Liddiard was one of the first to raise concerns about potential impacts on roads and wildlife.

Police yesterday confirmed that a man had been charged following an incident during the run-up to last weekend’s festival.

The event, which drew around 80,000 people to the Auchterarder site, was hailed as a success by organisers but was marred by a spate of traffic problems which have placed a question mark over the event’s future.

One of T in the Park’s staunchest opponents has been charged by police following an alleged fracas with workmen at the festival’s Strathallan site.

Mark Liddiard faces accusations that he became aggressive and abusive to engineers as they tried to fit a water pipeline near his home.

The 54-year-old was arrested in the run-up to last weekend’s festival which was praised by fans and organisers but widely criticised for a spate of serious traffic problems.

Liddiard had earlier threatened to take legal action against DF Concerts over the show’s relocation to the 1,100acre Perthshire estate, where he has lived for nine years.

A police spokeswoman said yesterday: “We can confirm that following an incident in the Strathallan area on June 23, a 54-year-old man was arrested and charged.

“A report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal.”

A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “The procurator fiscal received a report concerning a 54-year-old man in connection with an alleged incident in Auchterarder.

“The report remains under the consideration of the procurator fiscal.”

Liddiard is a member of the Strathallan T Action Group which led a hard-fought, albeit unsuccessful, campaign to block T in the Park’s move from Balado to Strathallan.

He carried out his own independent roads study which he said demonstrated that the rural network was unsuitable for the high volumes of traffic.

Commenting on roads chaos throughout the weekend, which saw many motorists stuck in massive tailbacks as they tried to exit the site, Liddiard said: “It’s been absolute chaos. There has been a complete inability to understand these roads.”

Liddiard was among the first to publicly raise concerns about roads and ospreys at the site.

A post-mortem on problems which plagued the weekend is now under way while MSP Liz Smith has demanded that Perth and Kinross Council carry out a “major review without delay,” claiming it was “abundantly clear that safety had been compromised”.

Around 85,000 music fans flocked to Strathallan for the inaugural event, which featured headline sets from Noel Gallagher, Kasabian and the Prodigy.

Festival director Geoff Ellis insisted that Strathallan was right for T in the Park, but apologised for traffic problems.

He said at the weekend: “I think it has been a tremendous festival.

“You would have to be something of a magician to have got everything completely right in the first year.”

Following an incident in the Strathallan area on June 23, a 54-yearold man was arrested and charged