𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Notting Hill Carnival should be ticketted in the future to avoid a crush such as the one seen at Hillsborough in 1989, a senior Conservative has suggested. Susan Hall AM, who ran for Mayor against Sir Sadiq Khan last year, said in a report published today that the event had narrowly “avoided a mass crush on the scale of the Hillsborough disaster” in recent years. The Mayor of London has expressed concern himself in the past.

At a meeting of the London Assembly in July, he said he had “seen images of some of the crowds at some parts” of the carnival, and “watching them made me frightened”. Ms Hall also expressed concern at recent violence at the festival. More than 61 police officers were injured last year, and people were killed in separate knife attacks, including Cher Maximen, 32, who was caught up in a fight involving multiple men and was stabbed in front of her three-year-old daughter. Three firearms were also recovered, and police made 334 arrests.

A spokesman for the Mayor told the Telegraph: “The carnival ultimately belongs to the community who decide where it is held and organise the event.

“The Mayor continues to work with partners to help ensure everyone can enjoy the carnival safely and honour its cultural importance.”

A spokesman for Notting Hill Carnival Ltd said the event “was founded and remains a community-led event”, and highlighted that organisers “pull on the expertise from each agency for the betterment of the event”.

They then invited Ms Hall to visit their HQ during this year’s carnival – which will take place over the weekend of August 24 – to “witness the operation in action”.

In April, the London Assembly said the Metropolitan Police Service has “consistently raised concerns about the possibility of ‘a mass casualty event’ at Notting Hill Carnival”.

It added: “The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee has called on the Mayor to commission a review of crowd density and safety at the event.”

The Metropolitan Police Federation – which represents 30,000 rank and file officers – produced a “hard hitting 24-page dossier documenting what their members really think about their safety at the Notting Hill Carnival”.

Simon Hill, Deputy General Secretary of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: “For years we have made it known that officers don’t like the event. But we had no tangible evidence to support that.

“I felt it was important to get some concrete evidence, to hear the views of officers who work Notting Hill Carnival so we could truly understand what they think of the event and whether they enjoy policing it.

“We chose to focus our survey on the Notting Hill Carnival rather than another large-scale event because of the consistent volume of assaults reported by officers after the event every year.

“Officers also work approximately 30 to 40 hours over the two days, which can have a significant impact on their wellbeing.

“We are also extremely concerned about the public who attend the event being victims of crime that officers feel powerless to prevent due to the sheer number of attendees and crimes committed. No other event in London has this combination or level of issues for officers.”