EXCLUSIVE: Glastonbury festival founder says he wants to move it to Longleat

The founder of Glastonbury Festival, Michael Eavis has confirmed he's in talks with Longleat about moving the event to the grounds of the stately home for one year.

In an interview at the Royal Bath and West Show - Michael Eavis told ITV West Country that he'd like to see the music festival at Longleat within the next two or three years.

The search for an alternative site was confirmed by Eavis's daughter Emily in early May this year.

But while discussions had been rumoured between the two, until now neither Glastonbury or Longleat had confirmed that talks were taking place.

Claiming Longleat "is the best site in the whole of England" Michael Eavis confirmed he'd like to see the festival move there by 2019.

Although he believes the grounds of the stately home would be perfect for the world famous event, Michael says there's a lot of work to do before plans to move the festival would get the go ahead.

Eavis went on to say that the owner of Longleat, Lord Bath, is supportive of the move.

He and his family were the first people Eavis approached with the suggestion.

Starting in 1970s, Glastonbury Festival has taken place on Worthy Farm near Pilton in Somerset for 46 years.

Its founder was keen to stress that the festival's home will always be the fields of farm and any move would only be for one year.

The ground at Worthy Farm is rested once every 5 years with a 'fallow' year during which the festival doesn't take place.

At the moment there's no fallback option for the festival's location, something which has been worrying the organiser for a long time.

Although nothing has been agreed Michael Eavis has made his preference for the alternative location of Glastonbury quite clear.

See the conversation with presenter Ian Axton in full: