Following a licence review and crowd complaints, London’s Drumsheds has been allowed to remain open but must enforce new safety measures.
The 15,000-capacity venue, which is located in Tottenham as a repurposed IKEA building, was reported as being at risk of losing its licence late last year. This came following a series of serious incidents at the premises and a subsequent investigation being launched.
Now, Enfield Council has ruled that the site has permission to remain open, but will need to enforce new safety measures going forward.
An emergency licensing review was called for following the death of a 27-year-old man who had attended a Drumsheds event on October 12. The incident is believed to be drug-related (as per Standard). On December 7, a 29-year-old woman also died in hospital after Bicep‘s The Hydra show at Drumsheds, with police believing that it was also connected to drug use.
In November, a man was stabbed in the venue, with Metropolitan Police officers called to the scene. No arrests have been made in connection with any of these three incidents, and the stabbing was later confirmed to be non-fatal.
The fate of the club was set to be decided in a meeting held by the council on January 7, and it was announced that it could continue to operate until then under specific conditions.
Now, according to a new report by London Centric, investigators found “serious failings” in the care provided by in-house medical staff. It reported that one of the two attendees who died had received treatment from staff earlier in the night, but then “released back into the event” instead of being transported to a hospital or removed from the venue.
The outlet also shared that a testimony claimed that the venue had not reported the incident “on the night,” ultimately delaying the “police response and subsequent investigation”.
Publications such as Mixmag have also reported that Police claimed that Drumsheds had “poor searching” of customers, partly due to the “sheer logistical problem of searching 15,000 people”.
Issues with the capacity and organisation of the venue were also highlighted in December, when a petition was launched amid claims of “overcrowding”.
The event in question was the 15th anniversary of UK bass label UKF, which took place on December 13 and was headlined by Pendulum, Nero and Knife Party. Dozens of attendees took to social media to accuse organisers of “unsafe queues”, overcrowding and “aggressive” security.
As per London Centric and Mixmag, the review findings have revealed that venue will not have to reduce its capacity, nor implement mandatory ID scanning and “bomb detection dogs” – things which the Metropolitan Police were pushing for.
The space will, however, have an increased police presence on-site during events and serious incidents on the premises must be reported to police immediately.
At time of writing, it isn’t yet clear how the new regulations will impact the upcoming events scheduled. The first scheduled event following the review is set to be held tonight (January 8) and is billed as Red Bull’s Culture Clash.
As well as a petition being launched following alleged overcrowding at UKF15, last month a report from MusicTech was also shared which outlined extensive queuing and debated whether it was “the worst-organised event at the venue yet”.
Following the backlash, Drumsheds’ operator Broadwick Live shared a statement explaining that the venue was facing “a number of challenges” on the night, but tried to mitigate them by enhancing security procedures.
“We are aware of the concerns raised and sincerely apologise for the frustration and discomfort caused during the event,” read the statement shared with MixMag. “Unfortunately, we faced a number of challenges on the night, including longer-than-usual queues and congestion due to a combination of factors, including enhanced security procedures. While these measures were necessary, we understand their impact and are conducting a thorough review.”
The post London’s Drumsheds ordered to enforce new safety measures following licence review and crowd complaints appeared first on NME.