A Glastonbury spokesperson has confirmed to the BBC plans for a new event, which is in its early stages.

Rumours of the new event, planned for Longleat near Bath in 2019, have become intertwined with speculation that Glastonbury itself might be forced to relocate.

Founder Michael Eavis previously confessed his concerns to Sky News, saying that dealing with the 22 landowners involved in the festival has not been easy: “I’m always worried about the future, about the land not being available because I only own the middle bit.

“I may have to find a site that’s bigger and is all under the control of one person. That’s the ideal situation, so that might happen in the long-term.”

Glastonbury has long been plagued by fears that a pipe running under the site could be fractured by the combined weight of festivalgoers.

While the long-term future of Glastonbury itself is unclear, the standalone Longleat event looks set to go ahead in 2019.

The festival takes a break every six years so as not to cause lasting damage to its Worthy Farm site, known as a ‘fallow year’. The planned 2019 break will give organisers a chance to focus on planning the new event at Longleat.

Last month Emily Eavis confirmed to the BBC that the Longleat event wouldn’t be billed as Glastonbury Festival, saying: “It’s going to be the whole team behind the Glastonbury Festival but it’s not going to be called Glastonbury.”

Further muddying the waters around the future of the festival, she also added: “The main thing to set straight is that Glastonbury Festival itself will always be at Worthy Farm.”