Hundreds of Oxfordshire music fans were returning last night from the water-logged Glastonbury Festival.

They were among the 112,000 music lovers who made the pilgrimage to Pilton in Somerset to see top bands including Coldplay, Elvis Costello, The Killers and New Order.

No-one was prepared for the deluge which flooded the site on Friday, leaving more than 400 tents submerged.

Tim Hughes, the Oxford Mail's music correspondent, said he was stunned by the downpour, which had a devastating effect on the festival.

He said: "The rain brought a swathe of destruction to the site -- there were rivers of mud and you could see people's tents floating away.

"One of the marquees got struck by lightning, which meant there was no music until everything was made safe.

"I was forced to stay in my car for quite a while, because it was the only place to keep dry."

Michael Eavis, Glastonbury's founder, is to consult his neighbours about ways to avoid the flooding in future years, with the next festival to be held in 2007.

Avon and Somerset Police named the man who died at the Pilton site on Friday as Benjamin Shepherd, 25, of Street, near Glastonbury. Officers are still awaiting the results of a post mortem.

By yesterday, 84 non-drug related offences had been reported, a 40 per cent drop on the previous year. There were 93 arrests.