FESTIVAL-GOERS were left frustrated and bemused after being told their coach was “too heavy” and it would have to be turned round.

The group of teenage campers, who were heading to Reading festival early in a bid to beat the queues, left Old Steine in Brighton at 1pm yesterday.

But 20 minutes into their journey they say they were told they had packed too much luggage, the coach was “too heavy” and it had to be turned around.

The teens were then driven back to Brighton.

Once there, the driver of the Big Green Coach told the group of about 40 to remove all their luggage out on to the pavement.

One confused festival-goer said: “The driver said he was going to let us back on one by one and would tell us what luggage we were allowed to bring back on.

“Anything else we had brought would have to be left on the kerb.

“It’s really annoying – I don’t understand why he’s only saying this after we had already left.”

Furious parents of the teenagers were called to the coach, which was one of three heading to the festival.

One parent said: “I’ve heard the driver wasn’t listening to the kids.

“He didn’t apologise, didn’t know what was going on and is obviously extremely stressed.”

The coach left – again – at about 2.25pm.

A spokesman for the bus company said the incident was nothing to do with weight but was caused by people “bringing on too much stuff”.

He said the company has rules and regulations about what can and can not be taken on to

the coach.

He said the bus was driven back into the city to help carry excess luggage from the other two coaches.

The excess, the spokesman said, was caused by people taking more luggage than their allowance.

He said: “The last coach was struggling with its luggage.

“We have strict terms and conditions on what they can bring to festivals.

“We reserve the right to not take items if we do not have the space to fit them in.

“But we do not want to leave people’s bags behind and that’s why we do everything we possibly can to avoid that.”