Festival-goer says people were being ‘trampled’ in crowd outside Finsbury Park

Tommy Durbin told MailOnline that ‘I was there, and haven’t been treated like that by the police since the bad old days of being a football fan in the 80s.

‘Herded along a narrow gap, police seemed totally surprised that so many people were there. Disgusting.’

Julie Cavalli told MailOnline that her daughter, who is at the event, called her at 3pm to say that ‘no one was checking if they had tickets’.

‘She was concerned as lots of people were just pushing through and past the security checks with no checks being carried out at all,’ Ms Cavalli said.

‘She said she was hoping no-one had taken anything dodgy in. This is a security issue and an incident waiting to happen!’

Another attendee said that they had been stuck outside the venue for hours.

‘People passing out, dehydrated, abused by police with horses,’ they said.

All passengers were also been asked to immediately leave Finsbury Park underground station, due to a reported emergency.

People passing out, dehydrated, abused by police with horses – what is going on? We’ve been stuck outside for hours @WirelessFest #WirelessFestival2022 #FinsburyPark pic.twitter.com/jRtkUC11dQ

— Rens (@_rxnai) July 10, 2022

In a video on social media, a tannoy announcement can be heard urging passengers to leave, as the gates are semi-closed across the entrance.

Paula Tucker criticised the event organisation on Twitter.

‘Finsbury Park utterly unsuitable for Wireless Festival — park gates shut, tube station closed, helicopter overhead for an hour,’ she wrote.

‘Haringey Council must not ignore the needs of residents and let this event ever happen again here.’

Another critic added: ‘There needs to be more security at Finsbury Park for Wireless Festival.’

Once inside, attendee Nicole Barrett said her experience was enough to put her off returning.

‘Little to no security at all in some parts of the pen, the speakers were blown and most acts were late or cancelled,’ she told MailOnline.

‘All in, about £1,000 was spent to come here to enjoy ourselves as a treat. It’s actually put me off coming next time, as the toilets reeked of ammonia from people’s urine —I felt like I was going to pass out.’

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Force said the issue at the entrance began at around 3pm this afternoon when ‘a small number of people tried to get through an entrance to Wireless Festival while others were queueing’.

‘As a result of this, security staff put in place a brief hold on people being admitted to the event to ensure the safe flow of people into the site.

‘This caused a large crowd to form in the area around the site.

‘Officers assisted security staff with managing the crowd to keep people safe.

‘We continue to work closely with the event organiser and other partners to prevent further disruption and we thank people attending for their patience, particularly in the hot weather.’