Glastonbury clean-up begins as campers head home

For the past five days it has been home to some 175,000 people, but today the clean-up operation of Glastonbury Festival 2014 begins.

Highlights of the musical extravaganza included Dolly Parton, Metallica and Arcade Fire, while Kasabian brought the festival to a close last night with a headlinig set on the Pyramid Stage.

Parton was the most popular act of the five day festival, drawing a crowd of more than 100,000. But despite receiving favourable reviews from critics, the country star was accused on social media of miming.

"Oh, Dolly is miming. How disappointing," tweeted Sky News presenter Kay Burley. This led to a debate on the site about Parton's performace. Stephen Fry came to the singer's defence, saying: "Believe me, that is not miming. If it appears not always to lip-sync that's an HD live processor issue. You see it with news reporters."

Back at Worthy Farm, campers have until 6pm to leave the site of the festival, while crew and stall holders are given a week to clear their property.

Organisers said the priority for today is to get ticket-holders off site before the clean-up can begin in earnest tomorrow.

A litter picking crew of up to 800 will begin to clear the huge site of rubbish, while volunteers began sifting through recycling yesterday.

Tractors carrying magnetic strips will travel across the 1,200-acre site to pick up tent pegs while workers will carry out a fingertip search to make sure no inch of the land goes unchecked.

The mission to convert the area back into a functioning dairy land could take up to six weeks.

Yesterday organiser Michael Eavis said the Glastonbury Festival had been a “great success again, in spite of the mud” and he already has next year’s headliners sorted.

The farmer, who put on the first festival at his farm in 1970, was sworn to secrecy about who the acts were, but said one band was not British and Prince was not among them.

Asked about Metallica’s controversial top spot on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday, he said the heavy metallers had played “like their lives depended on it”.

Asked about the future of the festival, the 78-year-old, who organises the mammoth event with his daughter Emily, said: “We’ve got a few more years.

“Myself, I think I can run another six years, which would take me up to about 50 years... and then see what happens after that.”

PA