Admission to South Tyneside summer gigs to be reviewed after youths ejected for causing disorder at Sunday's Dance Revival Concert

The council has confirmed a number of youths were ejected from the latest show and apologised to anyone who had been affected by their behaviour.

One party who had travelled from North Tyneside for the Dance Revival concert told the Gazette how their afternoon had turned sour.

Because a number of the group have health issues, they had bought priority entry tickets in order to ensure they would be able to secure a place at the front of the stage.

But as the show entered its later stages, a large group of teenagers began trying to force their way through to the front.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dan Griffiths said his mother-in-law, 56, had been forced to leave.

Dan, from North Shields, said the youngsters had bombarded the group with missiles as well as trying to barge them out of the way.

At one point, headline act Whigfield pointed out what appeared to be fighting in the crowd in order to alert security staff to what she could see from the stage.

Dan said the group had deliberately bought their priority tickets in order to ensure they were able to arrive early and enter the site ahead of the main crowd to stake their claim to a place at the front of the stage.

They had formed a small semi-circle of portable chairs in order to create a safe space for themselves.

"We explained to security when we arrived that I suffer from anxiety and we would be closing this small area off,” said Dan.

"They were satisfied with us being there and said we could keep a small area for ourselves.”

But as the concert progressed, pressure grew from teenagers behind them: "They were essentially trying to push past us,” said Dan, who also has heart problems.

"At one point, my stick just went flying and I went down onto my knees – if it had not been for my family and friends, I would have been completely on the ground and struggling to get up.

“We had deodorant cans and bottles thrown at us.”

South Tyneside Council spokesperson apologised to concertgoers for the problems at Sunday’s show and said organisers would be reviewing at admission procedures for future events in order to prevent a repeat: “We work closely with our partners, including the police and other organisations, to make sure people have a safe and enjoyable experience at our events.

“Sadly there were some instances of disorder at yesterday’s Dance Revival Sunday Concert, which led to a number of youths being ejected from the park by stewards due to their behaviour.

“However, these were isolated incidents considering the estimated crowd size of more than 19,000 people.

“In light of these incidents, we will be reviewing our admission procedures.

“It is extremely uncommon for our Bents Park events to attract this sort of behaviour. We are sorry that this affected the enjoyment of other concert goers.”