The punks' hair attracts a lot of attention

"The town itself is small enough for everyone to feel at home and all the locals embrace the festival.

"We held it in Blackpool in 1996 and it didn't go down nearly as well.

"A lot of our crowd are quite old now - we have twenty-somethings through to sixty-somethings so people feel entirely safe."

"The old people always ask the punks how they do their hair."

Deborah Hollings, from Morecambe Tourist Board, said: "People have been phoning up since Christmas to ask for rooms.

'Professional people'

"Normally, the festival takes place at just one venue but this year it's at four."

Hotelier Jim Catterall is welcoming back guests for the third year running.

"People come from all over the world for the festival. This year I've got Swedes, Israelis and South Americans.

"They're mostly professional people. I always say in 'real life' they're all assistant bank managers."

All 3,000 tickets for the festival have sold out.

It runs from Friday 6 July until Sunday 8 July, and features 130 bands, record stalls and DJs.