25,000 chickens were slaughtered in a farm just 20 kilometres from the site of Gatecrasher’s Summer Sound System Festival recently after scientists discovered birds infected with flu.

Health officials set up a 10km surveillance zone around the farm and stressed that the type of flu discovered – H7 – was far less deadly than the much feared H5N1 strain. Oxford University officials later issued a statement stressing the ‘threat of a flu pandemic ‘remains low’ after a number of undergraduates who attended the rave told student newspaper Cherwell they were frightened of being infected.

The bird flu scare coincided with a report in the Guardian about disgruntled revellers demanding refunds after headline acts including the Chemical Brothers and Hot Chip were forced to pull out due to dreadful storms. Gatecrasher responded this week by posting a statement on their website, saying they are ‘unable to offer refunds to customers’ pointing out ‘all bands have been paid in full and Gatecrasher will not be receiving a refund’.

“Customers who purchased tickets did so for the Summer Sound System event which included multiple artists, entertainment and facilities, and not solely for Sunday’s main act,” Gatecrasher added, “All event tickets clearly state, ‘The promoters reserve the right to change the bill without prior notification’, the purchase of the ticket is for the event not a specific artist,” they said.

In better news for the Sheffield superclub organisation, medical authorities announced they won’t be holding a inquest into the death of Bryn Edward Llewelyn, 41, who was found dead at the event, inside a marquee. Buckingham Today reported that a post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Llewelyn died of natural causes, after suffering a heart attack.