Leicestershire Police have blamed previous “uncontrolled crowds” and “near-crush incidents” for this year’s stripped back Diwali . The force said allowing the annual celebration to proceed in its previous format would pose a “serious risk to public safety”.

The 2023 and 2024 events saw “several near‑crush incidents, uncontrolled crowd densities, insufficient evacuation routes, lack of emergency access and over reliance on emergency crowd management control,” a spokeswoman told LeicestershireLive . “Lessons” learnt from this are the reason this year’s festivities will not feature either fireworks or stage entertainment , and Cossington Street Recreation Ground will not be used for this year's celebrations at all , she added.

The force’s comments follow intervention from two local

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