THE man leading a 150-strong V Festival police team insists the quality of policing across the county will not be sacrificed for the Hylands Park event.
V Festival organisers are paying Essex Police for the service, who will in turn provide officers who would not usually work at the weekend.
The force refused to disclose how much it is being paid.
Chief superintendent Andy Prophet, whose team have been preparing for about three months, said: "V Festival is right up there with the biggest policing events we have.
"We plan very carefully for V and can ensure that normal policing for the rest of the county will be ensured.
"V is an additional service rather than a substitute for other services."
Mr Prophet is also warning festival-goers they will be asked to leave, and their wrist bands confiscated, if they enter the site with drugs, including legal highs.
Last year 70 revellers were arrested on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs and for violence, but Mr Prophet stressed this was an impressively low number considering 180,000 people attend over the weekend.
"Anyone who has been to V in Essex will know there is a real community atmosphere and this is why it's sold out each year," he said.
"However, there are also those who come with the aim of selling drugs, peddling dodgy merchandise and stealing belongings.
"It's going to be very busy but my feeling is the local residents are very used to V after many, many years. There is no suggestion to say it will be anything other than a great weekend.
"In the past, I am not aware of any local people reporting issues of concern."
Manning Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, which scan number plates and check them against a national database, Essex Police will line the roads outside Hylands Park trying to catch potential criminals entering.
"We don't mean to hinder law- abiding motorists but instead want to weed out any criminals entering with perhaps stolen cars," said Mr Prophet. "There will also be speed restrictions in place to get people in and out efficiently."
