Supergrass are down to play on Sunday

Indie and rock bands will now play on four, rather than the six stages originally planned for Sunday, 5 May.

Organisers say the changes are for safety reasons because the site has become waterlogged.

Bands including Therapy?, Reef and One Minute Silence have been removed from the bill.

Six stages were due to be spread across the estate of the Ashton Court stately home for all three days.

Britpop band Supergrass are still due to headline on Sunday, with other bands including The Beta Band, Hundred Reasons and The Levellers also expected to play.

Turmoil

Saturday will see dance acts play, headlined by rapper Busta Rhymes, while the bank holiday Monday is a roots day, due to be headlined by soul legend James Brown.

Some 15,000 tickets have been available for each day, costing �35 each.

The Essential Festival has undergone several years of turmoil, after being forced to relocate from its original home of Brighton to Hackney Marshes in London in 2001 because of foot-and-mouth.

The Ashton Court Estate is also the site of one of Europe's largest free music festivals, which attracts up to 100,000 people and will take place in late July this year.