Glastonbury organisers have asked festivalgoers not to bring nitrous oxide to the King’s Meadow area of the site.

Liz Eliot, co-ordinator of the festival’s Green Fields, says last year’s huge increase in the use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, had “darkened the field’s atmosphere”.

“Sadly the King’s Meadow has lost its way,” Eliot wrote in a statement on Glastonbury’s website. “It’s become known as a place where people take nitrous oxide, a damaging drug which pollutes our beautiful field with noise, litter and N2O gas (a greenhouse gas which is 298 times more polluting than carbon dioxide).

“It breaks our hearts to see our Sacred Space used this way – and we know from many messages we’ve received over the last few years that lots of you feel the same way.”

Some two tonnes of gas canisters were picked up by hand after last year’s festival, she added. “Now, though, is the time to reclaim the spirit and lighten up the energies. Nitrous oxide will not be welcome in the King’s Meadow at Glastonbury 2015, and we will be asking people not to use it.”

Festivalgoers have already been discouraged from wearing Native American-style headdresses at this year’s festival, with stalls banned from selling them.

Kanye West and Foo Fighters are the 2015 headliners, with Sunday’s act to be revealed on June 1. The first line-up announcement included includes Patti Smith, FKA Twigs, Run The Jewels, Flying Lotus and Pharrell Williams. [via NME]