You are in > manchester.com  > News > Crowd safety is 'paramount' in big screen decision

General Manchester news

Crowd safety is 'paramount' in big screen decision

14/06/2006

Authorities in Manchester have made a decision not to screen any more England World Cup games on the giant screen in Exchange Square.

The decision comes as a result of too many people turning up to watch the England versus Paraguay match last Saturday. Almost 12,000 people were in Exchange Square to watch the match, which was double the number of people that the police were expecting.

Police say that they must put the safety of the crowd first and cannot ensure everyone's safety with the record numbers who are turning up to support England.

A temporary screen is currently being set up in the Castlefield arena which has a capacity of 7,000 and entrance will be on a ticket only basis. It has yet to be decided how the free tickets will be allocated but the screen will be ready for the England versus Sweden match next week.

Similar decisions have been made in Liverpool and London where authorities have said that they will only screen the matches when they can be sure of the safety of the crowd.


© Adfero Ltd