Timberlake gig chaos was one-off, says racecourse

Some fans started walking home along the A131 dual carriageway after Justin Timberlake's performance

A racecourse has promised that traffic chaos which followed a Justin Timberlake gig will never happen again.

Essex Police said music fans could have died due to "catastrophic" traffic management failures at the concert in July at Chelmsford City Racecourse.

A licensing committee at Chelmsford City Council met earlier to decide whether the venue could keep its premises licence or whether it should be altered.

Lawyer Philip Kolvin, representing the venue, told the committee: "It will not happen again - it can be treated as a line in the sand."

About 25,000 people attended the venue on 4 July, for what was the first day of the three-day Chelmsford City Live festival.

But people said they abandoned their cars and walked beside the A131, because of queues leaving the site lasting for up to four hours.

In a report to the council, Essex Police said "serious injuries or fatalities" could have occurred and the force asked for the licence to be reviewed.

The committee was shown aerial footage showing the scale of traffic problems

At the committee meeting, Liberal Democrat councillor Richard Lee said he did not "have faith" that the racecourse would stick to its licence conditions in the future.

Mr Kolvin said "sorry", and argued that proper traffic management protocols were agreed upon - but were "not implemented by the people who were paid to implement it".

The lawyer argued that while the Timberlake gig did not go well, the following nights, which hosted Olly Murs and Duran Duran, were much better.

"The 5 July event passed with far fewer issues," he explained.

"Car parks cleared within two hours and that was 12,000 people."

Some fans crossed a main road to get home from the concert

Mr Kolvin claimed there was precedent for large events being hosted beside busy roads.

"It isn't unknown... if you go to Knebworth [in Hertfordshire] which sits next to a major highway, you get the same thing.

"Is it desirable? No it is not. Should you take steps to prevent it? Yes you should."

Mr Kolvin said his client did not want to see a "disproportionate" reaction to what happened.

He cited the Euro 2021 football final at Wembley which suffered crowd management issues, and the crush which killed two people at The O2 in Brixton in 2022.

Both venues continue to operate under reviewed safety procedures.

Timberlake returned to Essex for the first time since headlining V Festival at Hylands Park near Chelmsford in 2014

Mr Kolvin said he did not want a cap on numbers of people attending the events but if there was to be one he would "rather it be 10,000, than 5,000".

He said limiting the number of people would send the venue into "a spiral of decline".

The committee adjourned to deliberate and a result is expected next week.

Its existing licence permits the racecourse to serve alcohol and host events until 01:00 every day.

Councillors were told their decision would not affect the professional horse racing meets at the venue, which take place all year round.