Festival is cancelled due to fear of biker gang attacks

ORGANISERS have lost their fight to hold a 25th anniversary music festival in Derbyshire amid fears of violence between rival bikers.

One Percent Entertainments hoped to hold the Rock and Blues Custom Show at Coney Grey Showground, in Pentrich, after withdrawing an earlier application for South Derbyshire when police raised fears of a retaliation attack following the murder of a Hells Angel last year.

Police also objected to the Pentrich event, fearing a clash between Hells Angels bikers and their rivals the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Amber Valley Borough Council's licensing committee has now thrown out the application.

Simon Covell, managing director of One Percent Entertainments, said: “The event this year has been cancelled because we cannot run it without a licence. We are gutted. It could be the end of an era.”

Previously, the organisers had attempted to hold the annual event to Catton Hall, in Walton-on-Trent.

But police called the show the most “significant opportunity for high-profile retaliation” for the death of Gerard Tobin, a Hells Angel, who was shot dead on the M40 last August.

The seven men charged with Mr Tobin's murder are believed to be members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, according to the police.

It was feared members of the public could be killed, or injured, if rival gangs clashed.

The latest twist means this year's event, scheduled for July 24 to 27, has been cancelled – despite 2,000 £35 tickets having been sold and an expected gate of 10,000.

Mr Covell said: “The only real problems were the same as the ones with Catton Hall. The police just felt there was a threat they could not deal with.

“At the end of the day, it has come down to the fact that they do not think it can be safely policed.”

Mr Covell, who described the blow as even more frustrating because this year marks the 25th anniversary of the bash, said he did not know whether it would be held in 2009.

But he did assure people who had already bought a ticket – along with the 30 stallholders who had put down a deposit – that they would receive their money back.

“We'll have to dust ourselves down and have a rethink,” he said. “We do this for fun but this has been anything but fun.”

Amber Valley Borough Council leader Stuart Bradford, who sits on the licensing panel, admitted that the application had been refused due to police fears but declined to comment further.

He said a statement would be issued by the council next week. No-one from Derbyshire police was available for comment last night.


original article
Festival is cancelled due to fear of biker gang attacks