Brighton Pride park crush leaves fans scared after thousands flock to see Britney Spears

Reports of overcrowding and police shutting gates on guests attempting to leave 'unsafe' concert

Brighton Pride attendees feared for their safety amid overcrowding as thousands crushed to see the festival’s headline act Britney Spears.

Visitors told The Independent exits from Preston Park on Saturday evening during the US pop star’s performance, trapping those who felt uncomfortable in the 55,000-strong crowd.

Guests were also seen resorting to climbing over security barriers to get out of the park once the entertainment had finished due to crowding.

The reports follow controversy over a crush caused when police closed the city’s main train station following the event, which Pride organisers said had “put people’s safety in jeopardy”.

Music photographer Jamie MacMillan told The Independent tens of thousands flocking to see Spears perform while neglecting the festival’s other stages left revellers penned in and unable to move.

“There was a section behind the VIP area that was enclosed by barriers and as time went on, it felt more and more congested, they were letting more and more people in there,” he said.

“The park itself can hold 60,000 people, but everyone was just in one space watching one act at the same time.

“There were so many people you could not move, you could not get out to get water – it felt increasingly tight in there.

“I am used to crowds but this just didn’t feel safe, it didn’t feel managed. You could look around and people were obviously uncomfortable.

“It's fine to a degree because no one did get hurt, but if someone had been injured it would have been impossible to get help to them.”

Brighton Pride said it had only received two complaints from guests relating to overcrowding in the park and had deployed more than 500 accredited security and stewarding personnel at the event.

“We designed the Park Festival on Saturday to accommodate 55,000 people in accordance with international best practice event management tools, using proven crowd management modelling,” Pride head of operations Becky Stevens said.

“These plans are designed to enable people to leave the site in an orderly fashion and we are pleased that the vast majority of people left the park calmly and peacefully.”

Thousands packed into Preston Park to enjoy the entertainment on offer during Pride Festival (Jamie MacMillan)

Pride organisers had released a statement on Sunday blaming rail operator Govia Thameslink for chaotic scenes outside Brighton Station as thousands tried to make their way home at the end of the evening.

A statement on its website said: “We are very disappointed that Govia Thameslink Railway were unable to provide sufficient services to people returning home from a day of celebrating Pride and enjoying the hot weather in Brighton & Hove.

“This is particularly concerning, given the months of planning and inter-agency working that we undertake each year to make Brighton Pride a safe and happy event.”

A Govia Thameslink spokesperson said the firm ran 15 extra trains on Saturday in a bid to cope with visitor numbers, a figure that had been agreed with event organisers.

Sussex Police said festival organisers were responsible for the park event and added it had not ordered the station gates to be shut/