MY son and his friends recently spent two enjoyable days in beautiful, sunny weather at the Evolution music festival in Newcastle/Gateshead.

At the end of the first day, my son was suffering from sunburn and duly applied after-sun lotion when he returned home.

On the second day, he took bottles of sun cream and after-sun so that he could apply the sun cream during the day.

However, at the festival entrance, security told him he could not take the sun cream or after-sun lotion into the arena.

My son explained what was in the bottles and why he had brought them.

He was advised that the bottles may contain alcohol. Security then took them from him and threw them in a bin. My son, oddly enough, was allowed to take a bottle of Coke into the arena.

It is concerning that in these days when we are advised to protect ourselves from the sun – and especially at open air events such as the Evolution festival – the security people get a little carried away by throwing these essential items in the bin while allowing a bottle of Coke, which potentially could have contained alcohol, to be taken in.

This is not to mention the replacement cost – £15.

Julie Magee, Sedgefield, Co Durham.