A festival on an Oxenhope farm will raise thousands of pounds for a hospice this weekend – despite being hit by thieves the day before it started.

More than 20 bands will play at Woodfest at Highcliffe Farm on Lees Moor this weekend and the village’s Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice will reap the rewards.

Now in its sixth year, the festival offers music lovers the chance to enjoy two days of music and camp at the farm for just £12.

It has attracted more people each year, and this year organisers hope that the great weather will edge the number of people showing up towards 1,000.

The weekend is organised by farm owner Richard Wood and his wife Yvonne, but this year’s event was hit by near disaster just a day before the gates opened As the site was being prepared for concert goers on Thursday, thieves struck the farm in broad daylight.

Two men in a green Volkswagen Passat swooped in shortly after noon, driving up to a 3 1/2 KVA generator that was going to be used to keep beer chilled in the scorching weather, loaded it into their vehicle and sped off.

Yvonne tried to block their escape, but when the vehicle didn’t slow down she had to leap out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit.

The generator has been described as yellow and with two wheels. Two cans of petrol were also stolen in the raid.

News of the crime soon went online, including on the festival’s Facebook page, where the story was shared so much it reached an audience of 30,000 people.

The Woods were subsequently inundated with offers of generators and the festival went ahead as planned.

Bands played last night, with more playing tonight, and people can camp until Sunday.

Andrew Wood, Mr Wood’s cousin and a fundraiser for Manorlands, said: “It’s definitely shaping up to be the best ever year.

“People have been really kind about the theft.

“We’ve had a lot of people getting in touch offering us this or that. Some 30,000 people have seen our Facebook post about the theft and that has actually helped promote it a little.

“Last year we had about 600 people come and we raised about £9,000. This year we’re hopeful we can get to 1,000 people.”

The event includes a licensed bar, which this year is stocking produce from Old Spot Brewery, which can be seen from the Woodfest site.

For more information, visit the website or facebook.com/woodfest.