Update following Brighton Pride 2018

(Information issued at 2.30am)

Sussex Police report the queues at Brighton Station following Brighton Pride have reduced dramatically with the majority of those queuing to travel being able to do so. Train services will resume again at 4.30am.

Many people decided not to travel and went to the beach instead, the numbers were added to by others leaving the PVP (Pride Village Party) and also heading to the seafront. This led to overcrowding in some areas and an increase in calls to emergency services. 

We have been working with the ambulance service (SECAmb) and HM Coastguard to find a way to reduce the numbers of people on the beach for the safety of all. 

As part of our emergency planning role, the council was prepared to make the Brighton Centre available for the Pride event. The venue has been open for a few hours overnight and will be used by the coastguard and SECAmb as well as to provide support to people our partners have asked us to help.  

Reports that 4,000 Pride goers are currently at the Brighton Centre are untrue. While the Brighton Centre has capacity for many thousands of people, we have only received six people at the venue. We are not expecting the numbers to rise significantly from this point but we are ready to help further if needed.

We will review the use of the Brighton Centre at 3am and will move the services to the Safe Space at St Pauls Church as soon as this is practical.

Additional information (3.30am)
We have taken the decision to close the Brighton Centre. It is now more practical to provide support at the nearby Safe Space in St Pauls Church, West Street, Brighton. We looked after nine people at the Brighton Centre tonight.