Train firm blames Brighton Pride Britney Spears crowd chaos on police

Stefan Grebosz photographed the crowds outside the station and an empty train into London

A train company has blamed police after chaotic scenes at Brighton railway station following Brighton Pride's Britney Spears concert.

Many people spent the night on the beach on Saturday after police asked for the station to be closed.

People reported crushing and people passing out, with "thousands" stranded.

Govia Thameslink (GTR) said police needed to marshal crowds. British Transport Police (BTP) said it was aware of a number of issues.

Sussex Police said it did not request the station be closed.

Britney played to a crowd of 57,000 on Saturday night, while police said the city welcomed more than 450,000 people over the whole Pride weekend.

Afterwards, reveller Carl Smith said his friend who did get into Brighton railway station ended up on an empty train going back to London, while "thousands" of people were stranded outside the station.

Britney had played to 57,000 people while the whole city had more than 450,000 visitors over the Pride weekend

GTR spokeswoman Angie Doll said: "We had standby trains. We had an additional 15 trains available."

She said: "When we do events like this, we advertise the trains that are in the public timetable but we also have additional trains."

She said the rail company did not use its additional trains on Saturday.

'Riot fears'

She said: "The issue here is the control of the passengers back to the station, so when crowds started to return into the station, the local police force needed to marshal those and this is one of the points that we'll be taking up with the organisers".

The barriers at the station were padlocked

Paul Kemp, Brighton Pride organiser, claimed the station had also closed earlier in the summer during the Brighton Festival, adding: "There are numerous events when the station's been closed because of numbers coming in and out of the city."

He said: "They manage it fairly successfully with the football, so I'm not sure why they haven't put the same planning into Pride."

Hayley Hancock, of Ipswich, who was caught up in the disruption, said: "There were so many people waiting for the gates to open at the train station, people thought there was a riot going on."

She said: "It was my son's first trip to Brighton and he was scared."

People reported scenes of crushing and people passing out

The BBC understands any crowds inside the station were the responsibility of British Transport Police and those outside were the responsibility of Sussex Police.

A BTP spokesman said: "We're aware of a number of issues relating to crowd management at Brighton station following the Pride event on Saturday evening.

"The force is holding a debrief this week to ensure an incident of this nature is not repeated."

The spokesman did not confirm whether the BTP requested that the station should be closed.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "The Sussex Police command team for the operation did not request that the gates at the station be shut.

"During the planning of the event we made it clear that there needed to be a robust plan at the station and good transport arrangements. This was the responsibility of other partners to arrange."