THE team behind Oxfordshire’s best-loved festival of new music, have announced that despite having previously gone into administration, the event has been saved.

Brothers Robin and Joe Bennett, who set up and ran the event at Hill farm, in their home village of Steventon, near Abingdon, have this morning announced that the event will go ahead under new management.

Despite being hailed a huge success, last year’s festival made a loss, forcing Robin and Joe to put the company into administration.

Many feared last July’s weekender, the 14th annual festival at the site, was the last, ending a crucial local date in the county’s musical calendar and an important showcase for Oxfordshire bands.

The event, however, appears to have been rescued and will now go ahead under the management of a new operator, Y-Not Festivals - organisers of the Y-Not festival in Derbyshire, winner of Best Grassroots Festival 2011.

It will take place at Truck’s traditional home at Hill Farm, from July 20-21, though as a smaller event, which has been described as a “back to basics” festival.

In a joint statement, the Bennett brothers said they were delighted that the event would continue. They said: “We have always felt a great responsibility for the integrity and sustainability of Truck Festival, which grew so quickly and with such enthusiasm from very humble beginnings in 1998.

“Via Truck’s unique catering arrangements with the Rotary Club, tens of thousands of pounds have been raised for charities and good causes every year, including last year, and many great bands have taken their first steps to international prominence.

“However, after a notoriously difficult summer of trading for Truck Festival, and festivals in general, we have decided it is time for us to step down from our role at the event.

“During the 14 years of its existence, since we started it round our kitchen table, the festival has suffered various threats and disasters, from floods and foot-and-mouth to finances, and taken on a life of its own. We like to think it has brought joy to a lot of people. It’s right for this tradition with so many benefits to the community to continue; a chance encounter with the organisers of Y-Not festival has given it the opportunity to do so.

“We are glad to say that, rather than finish for good or be in corporate hands, the festival in 2012 will go back to basics under the management of the Y-Not team. We feel they are the right people to take on the event, give it a fresh start and rebuild it over the next few years, and we hope you’ll give them your full support."

Over the course of its history, Truck has provided a showcase for some of the country's, and, indeed, the world's, best-loved artists, hosting sets by a diverse bunch of acts including Foals, Supergrass, Mercury Rev, Blur's Graham Coxon, Radiohead's Phil Selway, Ash, Bellowhead, The Lemonheads, The Young Knives, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Seth Lakeman.

Robin previously told the Oxford Mail that he had deeply regretted the financial problems incurred by last year’s festival - a result of lower than expected sales of tickets, food and drink.

It was the first time in the event’s history it had not been able to pay its bills. The collapse of Truck followed a difficult season for many other festival organisers. Harvest, held at Blur guitarist Alex James’s farm last summer also collapased, with organisers Big Wheel owing thousands to local creditors.

It is hoped the involvement of new organisers at Truck, and a smaller grassroots approach, will secure its survival.

Robin added: “More information will follow shortly from the new organisers. Thanks for your patience... and keep on trucking.”