A BLAZE that wrecked more than 90 vehicles at a Hampshire festival was caused by a discarded cigarette, a new report has revealed.

A Hampshire fire service investigation has identified lessons to be learnt following the car park fire at Boomtown Festival at The Matterley Bowl in August last year.

The fire involved 92 vehicles, 80 of which were totally destroyed.

The report outlines how the fire began in stubble alongside a Volkswagen Polo and was probably caused by a discarded cigarette.

It states that the west gate car park, which had not been used before, was added to the festival late on, but that, critically, no one realised that this field was stubble and not grass.

The report recommends that there should be some method of checking of late additions and changes to the event and ensuring the risk assessment can be updated.

It also highlights that the event risk assessment should have been reviewed in July 2016, but it appears this was not done.

A Boomtown spokeswoman said: “Although some recommendations have been outlined in the report, many of which Boomtown has already acted upon, the overall findings of the HFRS investigation are that there was no contravention of the Regulatory Reform Order by Boomtown with regards to the fire, the cause of which was deemed by HRFS to be a discarded cigarette.

“We continue to work closely alongside Hampshire Fire and Rescue and our new fire safety contractor on the lessons learned and, as with every aspect of the event, ensure that we endeavour to streamline systems and make improvements year on year.”

David Pain, a Cheriton resident who lives near BoomTown, said of the report: “It states that the decision to use a new car park on the west of the site was made ‘late on’.

“However, it is a fact that the South Downs National Park Authority granted planning permission for that field to be used for car parking on June 9 2016.

“Applications had been made many months beforehand so the landowner and the organisers were well aware months before the event that a field on which a cereal crop was being grown would be used as a new car park.

“The report also mentions that a risk assessment should have been updated in July 2016 but this did not happen. This would have been after planning and licensing decisions were made and before the event started.

“Therefore, it is surprising that HFRS seems to be of the opinion that nobody was negligent or incompetent."