Scientists say there's "dangerous" levels of illegal drugs in river near Glastonbury Festival site

The research was conducted before, durinng and after the 2019 festival, with measurements taken upstream and downstream of the Glastonbury Festival site.

As BBC reports, scientists have claimed there's "dangerous" levels of MDMA and cocaine in the river, and the levels could have affected rare European eels in the area.

Scientists found that the levels of MDMA in the river quadrupled the week following the 2019 festival, and believe it's down to public urination.

A spokesperson for the festival responded by revealing the Environment Agency had not reached out with concerns following the study in 2019. He said, "Protecting our local streams and wildlife is of paramount importance to us at Glastonbury Festival and we have a thorough and successful waterways sampling regime in place during each festival, as agreed with the Environment Agency."

He continued, "We are aware that the biggest threat to our waterways - and the wildlife for which they provide a habitat - comes from festivalgoers urinating on the land."

The spokesperson also said they are "keen to see full details of this new research, and would be very happy to work with the researchers."

Bangor University's Dr Christian Dunn said of the research, "Our main concern is the environmental impact. This study identifies that drugs are being released at levels high enough to disrupt the lifecycle of the European eel."

Dr. Dunn added, "We [also] need to raise awareness around drug and pharmaceutical waste - it is a hidden, worryingly-understudied yet potentially devastating pollutant."