THE staging of a major music festival at Bury FC has been thrown into doubt after Bury Council refused to issue a safety certificate for the event.

The council said there were "serious deficiencies" in the organisers' safety plan for the BL9 Weekender at Gigg Lane, and that if it went ahead as proposed, it would represent a "serious risk to the public".

Council chiefs said organisers had not formally approached the police or the fire service about the safety arrangements for the festival, which had been set for the the weekend of June 13 and 14.

They added that there was "woefully inadequate" detail about security, crowd control, parking, emergency access and dispersal of the thousands of people expected to attend the two day event.

The application for the festival was only submitted in the last few weeks, and appeared "rushed" and was "full of confusing and contradictory statements", a council spokesman said.

Tickets for the event have already gone on sale, and the line up includes the Happy Mondays, Echo & the Bunnymen, Peter Hook and the Light, Razorlight and Diversity.

Following the decision, Andrew Brooks, the founder of the festival, said he would work closely with the council to address the issues raised.

Organisers have the right to appeal the council's decision at the Magistrates Court.

In a statement, a council spokesman said: “There is a serious risk to the public if the event took place as proposed, due to significant deficiencies in the organisers’ event management safety plan.

“There are numerous elements which are unclear, which include the detail of how the stadium would be evacuated in an emergency.

“There is also woefully inadequate detail about security, crowd control, parking, emergency access, dispersal of the crowd, and regarding the proposed second stage.

“The police and fire service share those concerns, and have confirmed that they have not been formally approached or consulted about this event and no arrangements have been made with them.

“We do not understand why the organisers did not finalise these matters long before now. We have been in touch with them since the beginning of the year to discuss the arrangements for the concert and to apply for the necessary certificates in time.

“We warned the applicants that they were operating on a very tight time schedule, taking into account the size of the event, the proposed numbers attending, and the lack of liaison by the applicant with other statutory bodies such as the police and emergency services.

"But only in the last few weeks have they submitted their application, which appears rushed and is full of confusing and contradictory statements.

“In these circumstances, we simply cannot grant a special safety certificate for this event.

“We know that some people will be unhappy with this decision, especially those who bought tickets for a concert which did not have the necessary safety certificates in place.

“However, our over-riding duty is to protect the public from harm, and this concert has given the council and emergency services concerns that are so serious we feel we cannot grant this application. We are sure the public will agree with us that safety at such events is paramount and will understand our decision.”

The festival has been organised in collaboration between Bury FC’s Chairman, Stewart Day, and music industry guru Mr Brooks.

In a statement, Mr Brooks said: "It has been brought to our attention that the special safety certificate which we applied for on behalf of the BL9 Festival, has not been granted by Bury Council.

"We want to reassure the local community, who we know are looking forward to this event, that we, the organisers are passionate about staging this first ever festival in the heart of the community at Bury FC and will work extremely closely with the council to ensure every issue is dealt with and that strict protocol is adhered to by all parties so we can move forward with our plans."