‘I couldn’t breathe because the crush was so bad’: Liverpool students upset after overcrowded AU night

Liverpool students left Einsteins Liverpool unsatisfied last night after numerous reports of rowdy, overcrowded dance floors and long queues in the cold.

The Fleet Street venue was the latest venue to host the Liverpool AU night, which also saw the introduction of new ticketing procedures for its athletes.

Many students reported crushed stairwells and long queues to enter the venue. Some students also suggested that they felt the long queues were due to a one-in-one-out system.

A social secretary who asked to remain anonymous claimed that they “had to wait for 40 minutes to be let in because people needed to leave to make more space, but when I got in you could still hardly move. I ended up spilling half my drink down people’s backs because it was so squashed.”

Other students who wished to remain anonymous had similar complaints.

“At one point I was upstairs and I couldn’t breathe because the crush was so bad. Then I had to fight my way out and was so close to falling down stairs because the crowd was pushing me so badly.”

“It was overcrowded in the club to the point where you could barely buy a drink. Even if you did buy one, within a second you were wearing it because the crowd was so rowdy.”

"Despite nearly being forced down the stairs by all the pushing it was a very fun night. I was 'body up to the bar' because they were all pushing from behind which was horrible. The venue was good (as it was a better venue than the Guild) but definitely for half the amount of people. For the amount they had last night, that's just an issue of health and safety. My friend was waiting for 45 minutes to get in because she arrived after 11:30 and there was no room for anybody else to get into the building."

The AU president said: "Myself and the rest of the AU Exec Committee are really happy with how the AU Night went last night. We have had a lot of positive responses from the night, and we are looking forward to organising the next one."

Einsteins told The Liverpool Tab: "The venue capacity was not exceeded at any point during last night's event. There was a ticketing system in place and only those wearing wristbands were permitted entry. As with any large event there can sometimes mean that more people try to move to one areas of the venue. This was actively managed throughout the event by our staff and we actually staggered entry which formed a queue outside to ensure everyone could enter the venue safely to enjoy their evening."